Dr. Phil Says He Did Nothing Wrong, Sane People Say Otherwise
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You gotta feel sorry for Britney Spears (I can't believe I just typed that) when her family's idea of calling in help for her is to ring up Dr. Phil McGraw for an intervention. I'm no longer wondering just why Brit is as messed up as she is, with people like this around her.
Apparently her parents called on Dr. Phil to come in on his white horse and save Brit:
"I want to set the record straight. I went to see Britney at the request of her family. I talked to Lynne, Jamie and Brian, because they were frustrated that she wasn't going to be held for a longer time," McGraw said on CBS' "Early Show."
Asked how he had come to be involved in the saga, Dr. Phil said, "Thursday night, the phone rang, it was Lynne, clearly she was very upset. Any parent would be. I was first contacted by her family a year ago and had maintained a running dialogue for the last year or so."
TMZ.com says it spoke with eight psychiatrists who don't think Dr. Phil should have been allowed in to see Spears when he doesn't have in-patient privileges.
"Britney didn't ask for it, Britney didn't know about it" and Spears walked out when Dr. Phil walked in, said TMZ.com managing editor Harvey Levin.
Sources also told FOXNews.com that Spears angrily kicked McGraw out of her room and demanded he leave at once.
Dr. Phil said he eventually did meet with Spears for about an hour. He told "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" in a press release that she's in "dire need" of medical and psychological help despite being let out of the hospital.
"My meeting with Britney and some family members this morning in her room at Cedars leaves me convinced more than ever that she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention," McGraw told the programs.
"She was released moments before my arrival and was packing when I entered the room," he said. "We visited for about an hour before I walked with her to her car. I am very concerned for her."
So. He's been maintaining a "running dialogue" with the family for a year now. Really? Howzat workin' for ya, Lynne and Jamie? Been a changing day in your life yet?
This is just what Brit needs...some camera-happy, sound-bite snarking Head Minister of the First Church of Oprah (thanks, Josh) trying to help her through this latest crisis in her life. Several outlets are reporting that McGraw, by barging into Brit's hospital room uninvited by her, possibly violated her rights since he is not an employee, nor was he invited in by any of her medical team. She had no idea he was coming and was ambushed by the hulking Texan.
You know, I rarely say that Brit made a good decision, but in this case her original instinct of throwing him out was right on the money. First sane decision she's made in over a year.
In other Brit news, she apparently tested clean for drugs and alcohol over this little hospitilazation (this time), and now talks are underway to get her to voluntarily enter a mental health facility. It would be the best thing for her, but I doubt it goes. And now dad Jamie has bailed on Dr. Phil's television show featuring him and ex Lynne. Hmm...thought Jamie thought Dr. Phil was a "god"?
UPDATE:Â They're no longer going to do a Britney show, probably because everybody pulled out at the last minute.
I'll let y'all make up your own contraceptive jokes for that one. Consider it my late Christmas gift to you.
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