‘Price Is Right’ Models Allege Bob Barker Was a Vicious Racist

The E! documentary series Dirty Rotten Scandals paints a disturbing picture of The Price Is Right host Bob Barker as a bully and racist, who sexually harassed female employees.

Clips from the two-episode docuseries include allegations made by former “Barker’s Beauties” models Holly Hallstrom, Kathleen Bradley, and Claudia Jordan.

Bradley joined the CBS game show in 1990, and was its first full-time Black model. People recapped the series and said she talked about dealing with racism from viewers and show insiders.

“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 said. “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.”

Hallstrom, who is white, said Barker was a known racist.

“Bob has always said that Black men are the most diseased people on earth,” she said in clip from the docuseries. “Was I surprised? No. He fit the profile — rich, old, white, entitled racist.”

Jordan said the crew would sometimes make racist comments, and claimed producer Phil Wayne Rossi even commented on Black women’s bodies.

According to Jordan, the producer said on set: “‘Let’s make a reverse Oreo, Claudia, you get in the middle of the two white models,’ or tell me I’m the ass model because stereotypically, Black women have a larger behind.”

Jordan claimed racism and stereotypes came into play when the crew decided which members of the audience were selected as contestants.

“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,” she said.

She also claimed Barker would limit the number of Black contestants invited to “come on down.”

“And 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’s about to come on down,” Jordan added.

Jordan said Barker didn’t like being near Black people, so the crew would mark contestant cards with a “B” to let him know if a Black contestant was selected to compete on the show.

“They would have a letter B written on the card… It was pretty sad. A Black contestant may try to hug Bob Barker and he’d kind of shrink away from them,” she said.

Jordan worked on the show from 2000 to 2003. According to E!, she filed a lawsuit against The Price is Right, sued Rossi for sexual harassment and Barker for creating a hostile work environment and wrongful termination.

Bradley also sued for wrongful termination after the show fired six models. She said, “They did give us a nice little settlement.”

Barker hosted the show from 1972 to 2007, and was eventually named an executive producer.

He died in 2023 at age 99.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, his reps denied the allegations in the series and defended him as a beloved television personality.

Dirty Rotten Scandals is currently airing on E!