Kathleen Bradley became the first full-time Black model on The Price Is Right in 1990, a role that she and her onscreen successor Claudia Jordan claim opened them up to ‘raging’ racism from fans, producers, and the show’s longtime host himself, Bob Barker.
“As time went on, at some point it got back to me that some of the fans were writing negative things about me being on the show, as a Black model,” Bradley alleged in new E! docuseries Dirty Rotten Scandals. “[It was] just not a good feeling… And one of the members of the production team brought to my attention that, inside a production meeting, when models weren’t in there, they would use the N-word.”
The former “Barker’s Beauty” added, “I think people should know the truth — the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Kathleen Bradley
Credit: E! Entertainment/YouTube
Fellow Price Is Right alum Holly Hallstrom claimed that Barker’s virulent racism led to the explosive altercation between Barker and costar Dian Parkinson, who had an affair with the host after his wife’s death and during his subsequent relationship with Nancy Burnett. Hallstrom claimed that Parkinson dating celebrities, “including several Black men,” became a point of contention between the two.
“[Burnett] said, ‘Oh my gosh, Bob has no idea that he’s had sex with a woman who has had sex with Black men. Bob has always said that Black men are the most diseased people on Earth,” Hallstrom shared in the documentary, noting the racism in the situation didn’t surprise her because of Barker’s status as a white man of a certain age.
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A decade after Bradley joined the show, Jordan becomes the second Black “Barker’s Beauty.” Time, she said in the documentary, had not lessened the racism on set one bit. She said that producer Phil Wayne specifically would regularly make comments that “carried on that old spirit of racism,” and alleged he sexually harassed her because she was Black.
“‘Let’s make a reverse Oreo, Claudia, you get in the middle of the two white models,'” she recalled him saying to her. “Or [he’d] tell me I’m the ‘ass model’ because stereotypically, Black women have a larger behind — and I guess that’s why he wanted to grab and feel it.”
Jordan alleged that Barker and the producers’ bigotry extended to Price Is Right contestants, as well, citing “a darker side to the show.”
Bob Barker and Claudia Jordan
Credit: Monty Brinton / CBS / Courtesy: Everett
“They would go through potential audience members in the line looking for contestants. It was stereotypes that were definitely pushed on the show, negative stereotypes of Black people like the overweight Black woman, or the extra loud, ridiculous person,” Jordan said. “Then I started to hear that they were only allowed to have two Black contestants on the show at a time, and that was a direct order from Bob Barker. And to let Barker know the race of the contestant that was about to come on down, they would have a letter B written on the card.”
She added, “It was pretty sad. A Black contestant may try to hug Bob Barker and he’d kind of shrink away from them.”
Jordan said that having enough, she announced her exit onstage at the end of a show. “I got the microphone and said, ‘I just want to say something. I can’t do this anymore…. I’m going to miss this, but this is my last day,'” she recalled.
The next day, Jordan claimed, she sought out the same lawyer who represented Hallstrom when she sued Barker for age, weight, and medical discrimination, wrongful termination, and malicious prosecution. Jordan filed her own suit for sexual harassment and racial discrimination in 2004. According to Jordan, The Price Is Right’s production company settled with her out of court.
Bob Barker
Credit: Tubi
Barker, who died in 2023, had hosted the daytime TV staple since 1972.
In response to the claims made in the explosive TV documentary, Barker’s longtime representative, Roger Neal, denied any allegations of sexual misconduct against Barker or the show in a statement to USA TODAY Wednesday.
“Barker was and is beloved, and people to this day love him,” Neal said. “He was part of the fabric of American pop culture. He was the greatest MC in TV history. I was honored to have represented him.”
Dirty Rotten Scandals: The Price Is Right premiered Wednesday on E!.
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