Top 10 Judge Judy Moments That Did NOT Age Well
#10: “You’re Not Twiggy”
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Precious Grier is the defendant in a case about car damage sustained when she sat on her friend’s hood. In all honesty, Grier seems a little daffy. But it certainly doesn’t warrant Judge Judy’s comment about her body, even if she did preface it with a compliment. And, here’s the thing. An adult of any size sitting on top of a car could potentially do some damage, so her point isn’t even super concrete. Either way, we can’t imagine commenting on someone’s wight is something that would fly on TV today.
#9: “The Government Is Soft-Hearted”
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Plaintiff Marcus McLeod is suing his social security payee for wrongfully keeping his benefits. If there’s one thing Judge Judy Sheindlin can’t stand, it’s people taking disability benefits when she feels they don’t deserve it. However, her metric often seems totally based on physical disability. The judge goes on a hasty diatribe about government aid being wrongfully distributed, and how she doesn’t understand why the plaintiff receives disability benefits. Still, the fact that Sheindlin often goes on these tangents without knowing a person’s entire medical history is pretty disconcerting. Of course, she’d probably accuse us of being soft-hearted.
#8: “You People”
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This is a particularly messy case from early in the show’s run. It involves unpaid airline tickets, but quickly devolves into petty arguments. Insults and allegations fly between the plaintiff’s witness and the defendant, who happen to be in-laws. The judge tries to silence them more than a few times and eventually grows annoyed enough that she seems to just rule in favor of the plaintiff without really getting to the bottom of things. The way she talks about the witness and defendant, referring to them twice as “these people” or “you people”, led many to believe Judge Judy’s put-downs were racially charged. No matter how she meant it, there’s no way it would fly with audiences today.
# 7: “I’m Here for You”
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For 25 years, Officer Petri Hawkins-Byrd was Judge Judy Scheindlin’s bailiff, righthand, and sometime translator. This exchange, where Scheindlin tells Byrd she relies on him, is typical of them. For many years, fans loved their playful friendship. However, when Scheindlin moved to her spinoff with Amazon, the illusion was shattered. Fans were shocked to hear that Byrd was not going to be involved – and, in fact, was not even invited to be involved. As it turns out, the relationship between Byrd and Scheindlin, despite knowing each other for 35 years, was strictly professional – although apparently not professional enough to be upfront. We can never watch the show the same way again knowing that, regardless of what it looked like, they were never actually close friends.
#6: “Where’s the Rest of Her Outfit?”
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Judge Judy has the right to hold her litigants to a high standard. It’s not offensive to expect people to wear court-appropriate clothing. When she begins grilling the defendant’s sister, Ka Vue, about the length of her dress, however, it seems to go a bit further than it needs to. It’s terribly catty with all sorts of sarcasm and shade thrown her way. Yes, the dress is short. But it looks far more formal than the zip-up hoodie her brother, the actual defendant in the case, is wearing. If we’re going to talk appropriate attire, the conversation should concern everyone.
#5: Divine Brown Appearance
In this special edition case from the mid-‘90s, Judge Judy puts up with a lot of shenanigans she never would today. It’s the epitome of sensationalist, tabloid TV. Most notable for being the sex worker caught with actor Hugh Grant, Divine Brown is the defendant in a case brought by her alleged former manager. The manager, Rick Lomas, contends she hasn’t paid him what he’s owed. Other names discussed during the case are also such a product of their time. It must have been a great get for the show, but thirty years on, it just feels like a bizarre time capsule.
#4: Not Taking Accountability
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Few “Judge Judy” fans can forget the disgraceful plaintiff in this case, Wendy Moore, who allowed her 14-year-old son, Derrick, to drive her truck. When he allowed his friend, the defendant’s daughter, to drive it, they had an accident and she unfortunately did not survive. In a bizarre twist, Moore was the one who sued the grieving mother, Nelda Bailey, for damages. There’s a moment where the judge comments on the son’s weight but that’s really not the worst of it. Moore is incapable of admitting her own culpability in the events. Her son must have grown to adopt this same conduct because, in 2017, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for attempted assault.
#3: Predatory Behavior
This is one that probably never should have made it to air. The plaintiff sues the defendant who allowed both the plaintiff’s daughter and her own daughter to spend time with a 45-year-old man. Judge Judy interrogates the girls, who both seem a bit scared to be there. The man apparently gave them liquor, and the judge insists the airheaded defendant was negligent in allowing this to happen. Watching the girls answer her questions in front of their mothers, the audience, and the cameras is a pretty uncomfortable sit. It’s a particularly exploitative case that feels too salacious and disturbing to have been allowed to air. Hopefully, producers nowadays would put the victims first.
#2: A Shocking Update
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You never know what could become of a “Judge Judy” litigant. Most come and go without a hitch and you never hear about them again. Plaintiff Negasi Zuberi, however, is a different story. He was on a 2019 episode with his ex-girlfriend, whom he accused of throwing bleach on his clothes. He was the hero that day in court. But, in 2023, Zuberi’s appearance went viral. It resurfaced when he was arrested for kidnapping and assaulting a woman. There’s something terribly eerie about watching Zuberi winning a case against his ex for her supposedly erratic behavior given what we know about him now.
#1: The eBay Scammer
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This case made such an impact that Judge Judy still references it to this day. Defendant Kelli Filkins came to court alone to face a lawsuit over an eBay scam she ran with her husband. The two took the plaintiffs’ money, and instead of sending her the phone she paid for, sent her a picture of the phone. It’s such a blatant scam attempt that it’s gone down in history. In 2017, however, it was discovered that Filkins’ life ended tragically. It’s definitely a little uncomfortable to watch the episode now. In a different case entirely, Judge Judy even calls her a slimy criminal, which doesn’t really have the same ring now that we’re aware of the sad aftermath.
Is there a “Judge Judy” case you can’t believe made it to air? Tell us in the comments.
