Dr. Phil Still Sees Nothing Wrong With Controversial Shelley Duvall Interview From 7 Years Ago

Shelley Duvall, who retired in 2002 after featuring in Manna From Heaven, became famous for her acting in Popeye and The Shining in the ‘80s. Since she left the acting scene, Shelley was nowhere to be found by fans and journalists who tried to track her down.

Surprisingly, Shelley was back on TV in 2016 but this time for an interview on Dr. Phil. The one-hour-long episode, which was named A Hollywood Star’s Descent Into Mental Illness: Saving The Shining’s Shelley Duvall, was greatly criticized.

People found the trailer disturbing

The promo video for the episode with Shelly was rather unsettling. In the 30-second trailer, Shelley told Phil McGraw that she believes she has a “whirring disc” inside her and that she faced threats from “the Sheriff of Nottingham.”

RELATED: Shelley Duvall Found Out Who Dr. Phil Really Was “The Hard Way” After Divisive Interview

Shelley also added that her late co-star from Popeye, Robin Williams was still alive but as a shape-shifter. In the same clip, Shelley looked Phil in the eye and said she was “very sick.”

“…I need help,” Shelley added.

Phil responds to critics of the ‘Dr. Phil’ 2016 episode

Many people assumed that the show simply exploited Shelley’s condition for views and TV ratings, and worse still, she did not get any help as promised after the show. However, Dr. Phil revealed that Shelley was, in fact, taken to a treatment center which she left after a few days.

“Shelley still refused to take any medications, and she would not sign the paperwork required to treat her. She was accompanied by trained professionals and was safely returned to her family and boyfriend at home,” Dr. Phil said.

He added that alternative methods are now being employed to treat Shelley as she has refused to take medication. Some of the celebrities who criticized the episode for taking advantage of Shelley include actress Mia Farrow and Vivian Kubrick, who branded the show as “exploitative” and “shameful.”

Shelley said in 2021 that she regrets agreeing to the interview, especially without Dan, her partner’s consent. “A lot of people, like Dan, said, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, Shelley.’ He 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,” Shelley recalled.

Dr. Phil still insists that he does not regret what he did, except that the episode was “promoted in a way that people thought was unbecoming.”