HLN Host Nancy Grace Denies ‘Capitalizing On Dead Kids’

HLN host and producer Nancy Grace intended to promote her upcoming book and her soon-to-air Hallmark TV movie, but, when she did show up for a guest shot on a popular podcast, she found that the hosts weren’t at all interested in a fluff piece. Instead of asking about Nancy’s new projects, the hosts of The Jim Norton and Sam Roberts Show were far more determined to grill Ms. Grace on her HLN show, accusing the host of exploiting child victims for the sake of gaining higher ratings and earning greater fame. Nancy now says Sam and Jim hounded her on the topic, until she was forced to walk off the show in tears.

Nancy Grace Tells The View About Being Bullied

People reveals that Nancy Grace was able to tough it out on the podcast for 13 minutes, before Roberts and Norton ultimately shamed her into walking out on the interview. The View has since invited Nancy to tell her story to their audiences, and in relating the tale, Grace says she had no idea what kind of show she was walking into, nor did she expect the kind of harassment she received from the show’s hosts.

Nancy Grace’s HLN show reports on cases of missing and abused children, and while the host may view the show as providing a service and a help in recovering missing children, her methods have often been scrutinized. For instance, some have found fault with the use of catchy hashtags, like #BabyInDryer or #PregMomRunOver, used to bring online attention to the cases.

“My program is to help solve unsolved homicides and find missing people, which we have done. If you don’t like that and you don’t like the way I do it, don’t watch it,” said Grace on the podcast.

At one point in the interview, Nancy called out hosts Jim and Sam for attacking her on a personal level, accusing the hosts of judging and disliking her based on preconceived notions. She said the comedians were eager for anything they might use to cast her in a disparaging light, but decided to try to tough it it out, instead of letting herself be bullied.

Nancy Grace lasted 13 minutes, longer than most might have lasted in a similar situation. The surprise isn’t that Grace walked out on the interview, but that she lasted as long as she did.

“It was not funny — it was hell for me,” Ms. Grace explained to the ladies of The View. “They suggested that my program, that I had poured my life’s blood into for 12 years and prosecuted and represented crime victims, was capitalizing on missing children and murder victims. I almost starting crying, but instead I got mad and bit back. And after about 10 minutes, I was like, ‘See you, Beavis.'”

Nancy Grace Bids HLN A Fond Farewell With One Last Macabre Case Of True Crime

One might expect Nancy Grace to end her final HLN appearance with an emotional retrospective, but, instead, Atlanta Journal Constitution reveals that her final show was much like every other episode. Ms. Grace spoke about a 17-year-old teenager who shot and killed her father as he napped. From there, the story gets even more infuriating and even Nancy has difficulty revealing the facts without becoming incensed. She tells that the girl moved her father’s body out to the garden shed, before throwing a party in the house. Later, the girl had a stripper’s pole installed in the kitchen.

Far from impartial, it’s said that Nancy used her show to prosecute the girl, Crystal Howell, on her show, parading expert guests to help convict Howell in the minds of her viewers. The scales were only slightly balanced by Crystal’s aunt, who spoke to the fragile state of mind with which Crystal was left, following the divorce of her parents.

By the time Ms. Grace wrapped up her final show, she was left with just enough time to promote her new book, Murder in the Courthouse. Nancy also took a moment to plug her Hallmark movie, Murder, with Love, before signing off for the last time.

[Featured Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]