Earlier this week, a teaser for Dr. Phil’s interview with Shelley Duvall, who is suffering from mental-health issues, appeared online, and immediately drew criticism for exploiting Duvall for the sake of ratings. Among those critics: Vivian Kubrick, daughter of Stanley, who directed Duvall in The Shining (Kubrick himself has been criticized for his cruelty to Duvall on set). Vivian shared a letter to Dr. Phil on Twitter, writing that interviewing Duvall while she is clearly mentally unstable is “appallingly cruel.” “Shelly Duvall was a movie star,” she writes. “Whatever dignity a mere unfortunate creature might have in this world, is denied her by your displaying her in this way.” Kubrick then calls for a boycott of Dr. Phil’s show, “because it has nothing to do with compassionate healing.”
