The Price Is Right producer Roger Dobkowitz, the leading veteran of the show who produced more than 4,650 episodes across four decades, is defending the show and its longtime and late host Bob Barker in the wake of the damning E! docuseries Dirty Rotten Scandals.
Two episodes of a six-part series focused on the beloved CBS daytime game show. It featured interviews with former staffers and “Barker’s Beauties” models who allege that in some instances they experienced or witnessed sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, racism or a hostile work environment. Barker, who died in 2023 at 99, long denied any wrongdoing, as did his longtime rep Roger Neal, who released a fresh statement earlier this month when Dirty Rotten Scandals hit the air by calling him “beloved” then and now.
Dobkowitz said that while many of his friends had asked for his comments to Dirty Rotten Scandals, he had resisted because he didn’t want to “add any social traction to such an obvious ‘hit piece,’” hoping that the show would “quietly disappear” with other “so-called ‘exposés.’” But he changed his mind after feeling that the show didn’t receive much traction, meaning that it was then OK to reveal his thoughts while defending “the dignity and integrity” of Price Is Right.
“This so-called ‘exposé’ makes me realize that there are some people in this world who will happily exaggerate and create falsehoods in order to justify a personal hateful vendetta against a person in order to draw attention to themselves. Making the situation worse is the fact that the accused is deceased, and therefore, making it impossible for the accused to defend himself. The adjective ‘brave’ should never be used in reference to a person attacking a dead person,” Dobkowitz shared on Facebook. “Most people in society and individuals move on with their lives, especially after court rooms have settled disputes and they are closed. Most people are happy that a headache in their lives is over. Such closure is usually a life-marker to remind the person to grow and put things behind them. When someone feels the compulsion to constantly bring it up for another 30 years is a sign that something could be wrong with their capacity to reason maturely.”
Dobkowitz teased that he may someday write a book — “if anyone still cares by then” — in which he will share his own experience that includes 36 years of observations of Barker that would “clear up lots of misconceptions and dismiss any wrongful accusations.”
“The show was a happy place. Our working environment was the envy of other shows. Staff rarely quit. The dozens of women who were in our repertoire of models came back year after year, happy to be on our show. The only unhappy people, as would be found in any company, were the ones that didn’t get the raise they wanted, the ones that didn’t get the promotion they thought they deserved, and the ones that were terminated for not doing their job. Of course, we did have a small handful of those people, but far, far, less than other companies had.”
Dirty Rotten Scandals featured an interview with Barbara Hunter, who produced a handful of episodes and said her tenure on the show in the mid-1970s was marked by sexual harassment. “One time, I was in the elevator and one of the men just stuck their hands right on my boobs,” she said. “I had to push him away, I didn’t say anything. It became instinct to know how to handle it.”
It wasn’t the only time, she claimed. “One guy in particular. He was a little friendly, too friendly. He would rub up against us, joking around. It’s totally inappropriate. I learned the stagehand had been around on the set for a long time and was probably doing it to all the other girls,” she stated. “When I reported this guy to the producers? To my surprise, no action was taken. I was really taken aback. This was really sexual harassment.”
Longtime “Barker’s Beauties” model Holly Hallstrom also appeared in the series and said she lodged complaints. “There was no one monitoring how long the guys were staring at the models. It was a joke. It was an appeasement. They did things that made it look like they were taking action, so you will stop complaining and go away,” she said. “It took a toll. There was fighting on the sets, yelling, and it was massive. And it ultimately, I think, destroyed The Price Is Right.”
The Price Is Right is still on the air, hosted by veteran Drew Carey.
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