Biggest ‘Dr. Phil' doc bombshells include scams, lawsuits and investigation
The Dirty Rotten Scandals docuseries unveiled shocking new claims against Dr. Phil McGraw and his long-running daytime talk show - including allegations of a toxic work environment, alleged corruption of care, exploitation and more.
E! aired the two-part special on Wednesday, March 4, which featured rare testimony from unnamed former employees of The Dr. Phil Show, show guests and experts who revealed their attempts to question Dr. Phil’s intentions behind the scenes.
Dr. Phil, who hosted his show from 2002 to 2023, addressed the allegations through his legal team.
“Dr. McGraw categorically denies the allegations referenced in this film,” read the statement. “These claims are not new and have previously been raised, thoroughly addressed, and refuted. They are false, misleading, and lack factual foundation.”
The statement continued: “Any implication that Dr. McGraw or the production of the program engaged in improper, unethical, or unlawful conduct is inaccurate … the program operated with established standards and with the intent of providing resources, information, and support to participants and audiences.”
Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations about what took place behind the scenes:
Dr. Phil McGraw’s Alleged Scams Before His Talk Show
Dirty Rotten Scandals introduced several guests who appeared on The Dr. Phil Show throughout the years. Emily Jones was forced to go on the talk show in 2011 by her mother after she got pregnant as a teenager. She recalled being coerced by production into doing an interview that left her publicly humiliated after Dr. Phil McGraw shamed her life choices.
Angelique Robledo, meanwhile, survived suspected attempted fetal abduction and arson, which she was then asked to address on the show. Instead, she recalled being mocked before Dr. Phil used their conversation to promote his own book.
Marcy Newberry, who was molested by her brother, was convinced to tell her story on the show in an effort to help her family. She was allegedly forced to talk to producers in detail about the sexual assault after they threatened not to pay for her and her family’s travel home.
Marcy was then forced to face her brother for the first time in years while listening to him describe how he assaulted her. She nearly died by suicide after filming the segment and revealed in Dirty Rotten Scandals that after The Dr. Phil Show, she was admitted into a psychiatric facility. Marcy’s mother’s mental health declined, she lost touch with her father and her brother is in prison for five years on child pornography charges.
Dave and Marla Thomas were also featured in the docuseries after their son - DJ - was a guest in 2017. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, DJ went missing before The Dr. Phil Show found him and brought him on as a guest. He accepted help in an inpatient treatment facility promoted by Dr. Phil - but he was ultimately kicked out multiple times before being placed under arrest. He has since gotten proper treatment.
Elsewhere in the doc, investigative reporter and lead investigator Evan Allen got a hold of the release The Dr. Phil Show would provide its guests.
“Dr. Phil does not and will not administer individual group or medical therapy. You have to agree that you will not sue for invasion of privacy, defamation, infliction of emotional distress,” she read. “You give up all your rights to go on the show before you go on it. And then you go on a show and you’re horrifically humiliated in front of America. Then you’re like, ‘Oh, I signed away the rights to do anything about this. I can’t even talk about it.’”
Dr. Phil’s Associates Accused of Assisting With the Scams
Investigative reporter and lead investigator Evan Allen called into question the mental health facilities suggested on The Dr. Phil Show, saying, “All of these segments with the plug for the treatment facility, it was just obvious advertising. The show has a predictable arc where you go from seeing the person at their worst to Dr. Phil passes judgment and then he says, ‘I’m going to send you to the best addiction treatment facility in the country.’ There are tons of treatment centers linked to the show: Aspen Educational Origins, Turnabout Ranch, Creative Care and an enormous number of others.”
She continued: “Our original tipster was like, ‘He must be profiting off that somehow. We wondered the same thing. You can’t recommend treatment programs because they paid you rather than because you think the facility is in the best interests of the patient. We didn’t have any evidence Phil was getting paid but I felt incredibly suspicious.”
Anthony Haskins, who worked on The Dr. Phil Show for nearly two decades, was accused of being involved. He was referred to as the aftercare specialist on set who allegedly had a connection to the facilities recommended on the show. According to the doc, Anthony was allegedly kept on the treatment centers’ payroll as a consultant, which led to The Dr. Phil Show continuing to refer patients to places such as Creative Care, which is now closed.
Wendy McIntyre was investigating treatment centers in 2019 when she started to look into Creative Care and Anthony’s involvement. She recalled getting footage from people who lived in the same neighborhood as the facility of bodies being wheeled out after continued relapses and patients escaping.
She ultimately contacted Dr. Phil’s lawyers about his involvement with the facility, which is when she was told that the TV personality didn’t know Anthony had continued his alleged “dog and pony show for money” with Creative Care. Anthony, who wouldn’t speak with the doc producers, got fired at the time but he is currently still advertising himself as a life coach and mental health strategist.
The Other Overlap Between Recovery Programs and ‘The Dr. Phil Show’
In a 2017 investigation by The Boston Globe, allegations came out that The Dr. Phil Show endangered guests struggling with addiction by supplying them with alcohol and sometimes directing them to drug dealers to obtain substances.
Todd Herzog was mentioned in the coverage and on the docuseries after he made numerous appearances on The Dr. Phil Show. The Survivor alum later claimed that despite being in recovery, bottles of alcohol were intentionally left in his room so he would relapse before the show.
The show denied leaving alcohol out on purpose. After The Boston Globe published their exposé, reporter Evan Allen claimed Phil McGraw tried to silence the newspaper.
“We basically split our big reporting into two stories published on back to back days. We were getting tips faster than we could record them. Then we got this letter from Dr. Phil’s attorney demanding retraction. Just saying the whole story was wrong and we needed to take it all back. We were ready as part of the fight - and we were right. You can get sued all day long if you’re right,” she noted in Dirty Rotten Scandals. “But they included something I’ve never seen before, a letter to the owner of the Boston Globe. This letter said, ‘If we sue you, it is going to be really expensive.’ It was a pretty clear financial threat. This was the only time in my career that’s ever happened but the Globe told us there was no appetite for a legal fight. So that was it. The project got shut down.”
She continued: “The Boston Globe isn’t supposed to get scared off by a legal threat. It bothers me. The single biggest regret I have in my whole career is not finishing the Dr. Phil investigation. Money buys silence. That’s true for producers, that’s true for guests and it’s true for reporters.”
In a statement at the end of the doc, The Boston Globe denied shutting down any further investigation, with a statement reading, “Having published two comprehensive articles that we stand by up to this day. The allegation is absolutely false.”
Where Is Dr. Phil Now?
According to the doc, after the end of his show, Dr. Phil moved back to Texas to launch his own network - Merit Street Media - in 2024. It filed for bankruptcy one year later. The production company has been accused by production partners of a “years-long fraudulent scheme,” which the company has denied.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 7:59 PM.