Dr. Phil Stands By His Troubling 2016 Interview With Shelley Duvall

Dr. Phil McGraw is speaking out about the backlash that ensued following his widely panned 2016 interview with actor Shelley Duvall.  

Appearing on CNN’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” last week, the host of CBS’s “Dr. Phil” stood by his decision to conduct the televised interview with Duvall, who acknowledged having a mental illness on air. 

“I don’t regret what I did,” McGraw told Wallace. “I regret that it was promoted in a way that people thought was unbecoming.”

He went on to note: “We worked with her family. We worked with her for over a year, off-camera, after that fact, providing her opportunities for inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care. I can’t tell you the extent we went through.”

Watch Dr. Phil McGraw’s chat with CNN’s Chris Wallace below. 

During her interview with Dr. Phil, Duvall claimed that her former “Popeye” co-star Robin Williams, who died by suicide in 2014, was still alive and a shapeshifter. 

“I’m very sick. I need help,” said the actor, best known for her portrayal of Wendy Torrance in “The Shining.” 

Not surprisingly, the episode was met with widespread condemnation from Duvall’s fans as well as mental health advocates. Among those who spoke out was Vivian Kubrick, the daughter of “The Shining” director Stanley Kubrick, who blasted the “exploitative” interview as “appallingly cruel.” 

In his chat with Wallace, McGraw suggested that many of his critics would’ve been better served by attempting to intervene on Duvall’s behalf directly. 

“The people that were critical of it, nobody ever asked them what they ever did to try and help her,” he said. “And the answer is not a damn thing.”

In 2021, Duvall appeared to regret her “Dr. Phil” appearance, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “I found out the kind of person he is the hard way.” 

Duvall recently returned to acting after a 21-year hiatus in “The Forest Hills,” an independent horror film. Speaking to People in March to promote the movie, she said she enjoyed the experience of being on set once again and hinted that she plans to pursue more acting projects in the future. 

“[Jessica Tandy] won an Oscar when she was 80,” she told the publication. “I can still win.”