Criticism and Controversy
On 24 September 2007, a Manchester District Judge, Alan Berg, was sentencing a man who headbutted his love rival while appearing on the show. Judge Berg was reported in the Manchester Evening News as saying: "I have had the misfortune, very recently, of watching The Jeremy Kyle Show. It seems to me that the purpose of this show is to effect a morbid and depressing display of dysfunctional people whose lives are in turmoil", and that it was "a plain disgrace which goes under the guise of entertainment". He described it as "human bear-baiting" and added that "it should not surprise anyone that these people, some of whom have limited intellects, become aggressive with each other. This type of incident is exactly what the producers want. These self-righteous individuals should be in the dock with you. They pretend there is some kind of virtue in putting out a show like this."
An ITV spokeswoman responded in defence that "we take the safety and well-being of studio guests extremely seriously. It is made clear to all guests prior to going into the studio that no violence is ever tolerated." Jeremy Kyle responded by saying: "Some people will always think I've got the eyes of Satan. Others will think I'm a TV god. People have the right to criticise. Sometimes people need to be stripped bare before they can be helped".
On 29 September 2007, Learndirect, the government-backed sponsors of The Jeremy Kyle Show, cancelled their £500,000 a year deal over concerns about its content following a letter of protest from Welsh MP David Davies. Ufi, which runs the Learndirect adult learning service, said continuing the deal would not "protect and enhance" its reputation. The former sponsor of the show in Scotland, Shades Blinds, retained their association with the programme although they did raise the possibility of withdrawing their sponsorship. It is now sponsored by Debt Advisory Centre Scotland.
Newspaper columnists subsequently exchanged mixed views about The Jeremy Kyle Show. Fiona Phillips, writing in the Daily Mirror, accused Judge Berg of being out of touch and claimed those appearing on the programme knew exactly what they were letting themselves in for. However, Carole Malone at sister publication the Sunday Mirror claimed Kyle was only interested in helping his own ego. In The Times newspaper, columnist Martin Samuel described the show as "a tragic, self-serving procession of freaks, misfits, sad sacks and hopelessly damaged human beings" and its guests as "a collection of angry, tearful and broken people, whose inexperience of talking through painful, contentious, volatile issues leaves them unprepared and inadequate for a confrontation of this nature" whilst noting that they "can only appear intellectually inferior to the host, too, with his sharp suit and well-rehearsed confidence".
Read more about this topic: The Jeremy Kyle Show
Famous quotes containing the words criticism and/or controversy:
“To be just, that is to say, to justify its existence, criticism should be partial, passionate and political, that is to say, written from an exclusive point of view, but a point of view that opens up the widest horizons.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)