INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Dr. Phil, Shelley Duvall Talk About Her Mental Illness, But Some Are Boycotting The Show [UPDATE]

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 06:02 PST, Nov 17, 2016

11/19/2016, 4 p.pm est: The Dr. Phil interview with Shelley Duvall was said to be “as cruel as feared,” and most of the questions were said to bait the mentally ill former actress. Dr. Phil McGraw did promise to offer Duvall help following the show.

Dr. Phil has been scoring some key interviews this season, but people are starting to ask if he is going too far to get ratings. Tomorrow, Dr. Phil will interview The Shining’s Shelley Duvall, who is nearly unrecognizable after viewing the commercials for the show. Duvall is obviously in a compromised mental state, and it begs the question: Is she competent to consent?

This season started with one of the biggest interviews of the year, and that was Burke Ramsey, the older brother of JonBenet Ramsey who was murdered in their home 20 years ago, says the Inquisitr. Dr. Phil had a three-part show to go over every detail of the horrific murder, and it introduced the world to Burke Ramsey, who obviously has some level of social anxiety. Ramsey smile at seemingly inappropriate times, which was distracting to those watching. Burke Ramsey had never given an interview before and had been shielded from the press for most of his life.

Dr. Phil on Friday will be solely about The Shining’s Shelley Duvall and her obvious struggle with mental and physical illnesses. However, friends and fans are demanding to be heard, calling the psychologist out for opportunism and exploitation of the mentally ill, says People Magazine. Leading the charge against Dr. Phil is Vivian Kubrick, the daughter of Shining director Stanley Kubrick, who is calling for a boycott.

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On the preview of Dr. Phil, Shelley Duvall looks somewhat disoriented, with a blank look on her face.

“I’m very sick, I need help.”

But Vivian Kubrick says that it’s obvious that Duvall cannot understand the ramifications of discussing her health so publicly in a direct letter to Dr. Phil.

“Your exploitive use of Shelly Duvall is a form of LURID ENTERTAINMENT and is shameful.”

Kubrick explains that Shelley Duvall, 67, deserves to maintain her dignity, even when she is in a health crisis.

“You are putting Shelly Duvall ‘on show’ while she is suffering from a pitiable state of ill health. Unquestionably, this is purely a form of lurid and exploitive entertainment — it’s appallingly cruel.”

Shelley Duvall’s last movie was released in 2002. She moved back to Texas when she retired from acting. She is best known for The Shining and the movie Popeye with actor and friend, the late Robin Williams.

Dr. Phil used a sensationalistic voice-over to describe what the public will see on Friday, says Pop Crush.

“From red carpet to near recluse.”

Duvall seems to be hallucinating, as she talks about how she loved Robin Williams, who committed suicide last year.

“Where do you think he is?” Dr. Phil asks.

“Shapeshifting,” she replies.

Duvall also replies that she sometimes sees half of Williams. She also says she is being threatened by a man who she says is the “Sheriff of Nottingham,” the character in Robin Hood tales.

“I think there’s a whirring disk inside me.”

Once again, Duvall tells Dr. Phil she is very sick, and he tells her that’s why he’s there. Obviously, it would be better for Shelley Duvall to get help without the television cameras, but if she were capable of that, she would likely have gotten help already. Dr. Phil is defending doing the show by claiming that seeing Duvall reach out might convince someone to seek help and that it’s never too late.

Will you watch Dr. Phil on Friday to see the interview with Shelley Duvall?

[Featured Image by Warner Bros.]

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