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TVWeek, THR

Bizarre Footnote to the Controversial Shelley Duvall Episode of ‘Dr. Phil’

Nov 23, 2016  •  Post A Comment

In another bizarre twist in a story that has had its share of bizarre twists — the story of former actress Shelley Duvall’s psychological problems, which were the focus of the Nov. 18 installment of “Dr. Phil” — one of the most outspoken critics of the episode has pulled the plug on a crowdfunding campaign that was aimed at helping Duvall.

Vivian Kubrick, whose father, the late Stanley Kubrick, directed Duvall in “The Shining,” began criticizing the “Dr. Phil” episode almost immediately after clips surfaced last week promoting the show. The same day the program aired, Kubrick, who accused the show of exploiting Duvall’s mental illness, launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking to raise $100,000 to help Duvall.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kubrick abruptly shut down the campaign Nov. 22 after just four days. “Many Twitter users and GoFundMe commenters are now questioning if Vivian’s deep ties to the Church of Scientology, an organization that vilifies all forms of psychiatry and mental-health treatment, had something to do with it,” THR notes.

The report adds that actress Jennifer Tilly, who donated $500, was one of the 660 fans who made contributions. “Now Tilly will be getting her donation back — and be left wondering, no doubt, exactly what happened,” THR reports.

The controversial “Dr. Phil” episode has reportedly been deleted from the show’s online episode guide, and a teaser for the show, which we posted on TVWeek.com last week, was pulled from circulation.

THR also offers this intriguing note in its discussion of Vivian Kubrick’s role in the saga: “Her father, it’s worth mentioning, famously subjected Duvall to very real psychological torture techniques to elicit the performance he was looking for in ‘The Shining’; they regularly left Duvall emotionally shattered, sobbing alone in a room for upwards of 12 hours at a time.”

We encourage readers to click through to THR via the link above to read additional details about this story.

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