AFTER the late Shelley Duvall retired from acting, she resurfaced in an interview with Dr. Phil.
In support of the late Emmy nominee, the episode was met with backlash.
On November 18, 2016, Dr. Phil interviewed Shelley Duvall.
In an episode titled, From Hollywood Star to Near Isolation: Helping The Shining’s Shelley Duvall, the eponymous host sat down with the abovementioned actress for her first interview in several years.
Before the episode aired, Stanley Kubrick’s daughter, Vivian, spoke out against the interview.
“I recoil in complete disgust,” tweeted Vivian Kubrick.
“Unquestionably, this is purely a form of lurid and exploitative entertainment — it’s appallingly cruel.
“You are putting Shelley Duvall ‘on show’ while she is suffering from a pitiable state of ill health.
“I hope others will join me in boycotting your utterly heartless form of entertainment, because it has nothing to do with compassionate healing.
“Shelly Duvall was a movie star…whatever dignity a mere unfortunate creature might have in this world, is denied her by your displaying her in this way.”
On the eve of the episode’s broadcast, Dr. Phil was met with more negative reception and was accused of exploiting The Shining actress.
While Dr. Phil interviewed Shelley, many viewers noted that the latter appeared unwell.
“I’m very sick, I need help,” she told the talk show host.
“If I say I’m healthy, the first thing they’ll do is hurt me tonight.
“There’s a worrying disc inside me. I loved Robin Williams.
“I don’t think he’s [Williams] dead. The man who’s threatening me is the Sheriff of Nottingham.”
By the end of the episode, Dr. Phil said he attempted to arrange for Shelley to receive mental health treatment in California.
However, she refused and returned home to Blanco, Texas, with her life partner, Dan Gilroy.
Vivian Kubrick launched a GoFundMe page so that Shelley could acquire proper help.
“Like many older movie stars, embarrassed finances is not uncommon,” said Vivian.
“Showing your love and support for Shelley Duvall by making a donation can start her back on the road to independence and perhaps back to health and for her fans, more superb performances!”
“I found out the kind of person he [Dr. Phil] is the hard way,” Shelley told The Hollywood Reporter.
“My mother didn’t like him, either. A lot of people, like Dan [Gilroy], said, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Shelley.’
“He [Dr. Phil] started calling my mother. She told him, ‘Don’t call my daughter anymore.
“But he started calling my mother all the time trying to get her to let me talk to him again.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Dr. Phil told the same outlet: “We view every Dr. Phil episode, including Miss Duvall and her struggle with mental illness, as an opportunity to share relatable, useful information and perspective with our audiences.
“We don’t attach the stigma associated with mental illness which many do.
“With no one else offering help, our goal was to document the struggle and bring amazing resources to change her trajectory as we have for so many over 19 years.
“Unfortunately, she declined our initial offer for inpatient treatment that would have included full physical and mental evaluations, giving her a chance to privately manage her challenges.
“After many months of follow-up, in collaboration with her mother, she ultimately refused assistance.
“We were of course very disappointed, but those offers for help remain open today.”
Dr. Phil further explained to CNN: “I don’t regret what I did.
“I regret that it was promoted in a way that people thought was unbecoming.
“There are parts of that story that I haven’t talked about and won’t talk about in specific.
“But I can say generally, that we worked with her family [and] with her for over a year off camera, after the fact, providing her opportunities for inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care.
“I can’t tell you the extent we went through.”
