Bob Barker, the late host of game show The Price is Right, has been alleged to have disregarded claims of sexual harassment.
In a new clip from the new E! show Dirty Rotten Scandals, several woman alleged that they were victims of sexually inappropriate behavior on the show’s set. They also claimed that Barker ignored the mistreatment, and that the only response from CBS was an ineffective and unenforced “10-second rule,” meaning that men weren’t supposed to look at the show’s female models for longer than ten seconds. Barker hosted The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007.
Kathleen Bradley, a former model who was a member of “Barker’s Beauties,” recalled that one male stagehand on set was “too friendly” with the female models and would “rub up” against them.
"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,” Bradley said.
During one taping, she intentionally hit the man in his groin with a golf club, saying the women were “exhausted and tired of the treatment.”
Another Barker’s Beauty, Holly Hallstrom, said that if any of the models complained, Barker would “have told her to get over it or look for a new job." As she recalls, the network’s attempt to address the issues, the “10-Second Rule,” was dismissed by male staff.
"There was no one monitoring how long the guys were staring at the models," Hallstrom recalled. "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."
A female producer for the show, Barbara Hunter, also alleged that while on an elevator, a male staff grabbed her breasts.
"I had to push him away. I didn't say anything. It became instinct to know how to handle it,” she said.
The harassment allegedly occurred while Barker was having an affair with one of his “Beauties,” model Dian Parkinson. At the time, Barker was married to Dorothy Jo Gideon, who died in 1981.
Barker was sued by Parkinson in 1994 for $5 million, with the model alleging that he forced her into a relationship. The TV host denied the allegations and claimed that the relationship was consensual, and the following year, Parkinson dropped the suit.
Hallstrom, who left the show in 1995, countersued Barker for defamation after Barker first sued for defamation of character. The model, who won the suit in 2005, has long claimed that she was a target of inappropriate comments and wrongful termination after gaining weight due to taking medication.