NEED TO KNOW
Holly Hallstrom found herself in the position at The Price Is Right where she was at odds with host Bob Barker
Over 30 years later, Hallstrom tells PEOPLE about what was going through her mind as she navigated the conflict
Hallstrom was one of “Barker’s Beauties” on The Price Is Right from 1977 to 1995
Holly Hallstrom found herself in a moral bind while working on The Price Is Right.
Hallstrom, who was one of “Barker’s Beauties” on The Price Is Right from 1977 to 1995, was among the show’s team members asked to testify on Bob Barker‘s behalf in a lawsuit filed by model Dian Parkinson, alleging sexual harassment.
In E!’s Dirty Rotten Scandals docuseries, Hallstrom noted that when she was asked to testify, she knew, “I wanted nothing to do with it.”
Hallstrom tells PEOPLE that the decision changed everything, noting, “I refused to testify in court, to commit felony perjury for him. That was the final straw, but it’s against the law to fire an employee for failing to testify on your behalf in a court of law. So they could not fire me for that”
She adds, “I was on his s–t list and I knew it.”
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Holly Hallstrom on “The Price Is Right”
Credit: Holly Hallstrom
“Instead, Barker said I was overweight, and that’s why I was off the show. I was not surprised that he used that as the excuse, the reason, the justification for firing me, but when I was asked why I was fired, I told them, ‘I was told it was because my weight was a problem.’ “
Hallstrom noted that, like others on the show, she discovered how far Barker’s reach was, calling him “a powerful man.”
“If you’re the star and you control the library of the number one daytime show in television history, you have a lot of power. You can pick up the phone and it gets done. ‘Whatever you want, Bob,’ ” she said.
Holly Hallstrom on “The Price Is Right”
Credit: Holly Hallstrom
Barker was allegedly able to get a previous documentary on the show’s backstage environment canceled, which was “disheartening” to Hallstrom and others.
“To realize that even if we did speak out, we weren’t going to be heard or it was going to be buried or… And then knowing him, that he would sue again in a hot flash, I had to stay silent,” Hallstrom said.
It’s why telling her story now has been such an empowering experience for Hallstrom, who began to share her story after Barker’s death in 2023.
“To finally speak openly and freely was… I mean, you could hear the angel’s chorus sing. To be able to say, ‘This is what is happening in our industry and it’s been this way since the beginning,’ and to speak out and have an audience to hear it, it was so liberating. It was like the weight of the world was off my shoulders that I didn’t even realize I’d been carrying for 30 years.”
Read the original article on People
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