Bob Barker’s legacy as the longtime host of The Price Is Right is under fresh scrutiny, as former model Holly Hallstrom broke silence on her exit from show.
For nearly two decades, Holly Hallstrom was a familiar face on The Price Is Right, one of the original Barker’s Beauties.
But in a new E! docuseries, Dirty Rotten Scandals, Hallstrom alleged her 1995 exit wasn’t about her weight, as producers claimed.
She shared that was because of her refusal to defend host Bob Barker in court.
Hallstrom explained that she was pressured to testify during Dian Parkinson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Barker, following an affair between the host and her fellow model.
“I wanted nothing to do with it,” she recalled in the documentary.
“I didn’t want to commit felony perjury, which is exactly what it would have been if I gave a testimony.”
Her refusal, she claimed to People, put her on Barker’s “s— list.”
Instead of firing her outright, Barker allegedly told her she was “overweight” and pushed her into what he called “early retirement.”
Hallstrom remembers thinking, “I hate that man.”
Unlike Parkinson, Hallstrom never signed a non-disclosure agreement, which allowed her to speak out.
“Basically, he said I was a fat liar and problematic and no one liked working with me, and that was just a bald-faced lie,” she told PEOPLE.
The fallout was costly.
Barker sued Hallstrom for defamation after she spoke to Hard Copy, though he dropped the case before trial.
She countersued for malicious prosecution, eventually reaching a settlement.
Now, more than 30 years later and following Barker’s death in 2023, Hallstrom is revisiting her story.
Dirty Rotten Scandals paints a picture of a toxic culture behind the scenes of the beloved game show, suggesting that sexual harassment was rampant in its early years.
The docuseries, which also examines scandals tied to America’s Next Top Model and The Dr. Phil Show, premiered Wednesday on E!.
