Judge Judy’s bailiff of 25 years claims he was ‘priced out’ of her new show – When one of the highest-paid stars on television — reportedly banking $47 million a year for “Judge Judy” — vacated the bench/throne she held for 25 seasons to star in a new streaming series, “Judy Justice,” the beloved badass decided to go solo.
ORDER A COPY OF ROB’S NEW BEST SELLING BOOK!
Petri Hawkins-Byrd — who had served as Sheindlin’s bailiff since “Judge Judy” premiered in 1996 — has revealed that he was “not asked” to be part of the new show, premiering Nov. 1 on the Amazon and IMDb TV streaming platforms.
“My assumption is if you were going on to do something else, that you were at least going to ask me if I wanted to have the opportunity to audition for the role,” Hawkins-Byrd, 63, told EW of allegedly getting “priced out” of his gig
Sheindlin’s sidekick found out about her new show just like the general public — but at the time, he was more focused on caring for his wife, longtime “Judge Judy” producer Makita Bond-Byrd, who is recovering from surgery for a malignant brain tumor.
“I didn’t have time to think about or ask about ‘Judy Justice,’ ” said Hawkins-Byrd, adding that Makita just completed her third round of chemotherapy after doctors removed 95 percent of her tumor. “It wasn’t until July that I called the judge and asked, ‘Hey, should I look for something else or am I included in the “Judy Justice” project?’”
That’s when his longtime colleague informed him he was not invited to her streamer. He didn’t ask why, he told EW, as that was her choice.
“But she did inform me that fundamentally, I was priced out as the new bailiff on her new show,” Hawkins-Byrd told the outlet. “My salary would have been too much. I was curious: How would she know? She didn’t ask me. She didn’t give me an opportunity to have accepted a lower salary.”
Sheindlin’s spokesperson released the following statement to EW on her behalf: “Byrd is terrific and we had a great 25-year run. This is a whole new program with a whole new cast and an exciting energy.”
Called “America’s Number ONE Gossip Columnist” by The National Enquirer. Rob ‘Naughty But Nice’ Shuter breaks celebrity news every day on his website NaughtyGossip.com where he delivers all the dish about the stars we love in his naughty but nice signature style. You can also catch him co-hosting and breaking celebrity news on Good Day New York, The Today Show, The Talk, Wendy Williams Show, CNN, Extra and Z100’s ‘Elvis Duran.’ Previously, Rob was the Huffington Post’s only celebrity columnist and the former executive editor of OK! Magazine. Rob has also hosted his own Saturday night talk show on Mark Cuban’s channel and his own daily morning show, ‘The Gossip Table,’ on VH1! Breaking some of the biggest entertainment stories, including Jamie Lynn Spears’s pregnancy news, Britney’s first post-meltdown interview, Eva Longoria’s wedding, and baby exclusives for Jessica Alba, Tori Spelling and Mathew McConaughey’s tots, Rob always knows where to find the best scoop. Before Rob was one of the world’s most successful entertainment reporters, he was a publicist working for Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, P. Diddy, Jessica Simpson and Jon Bon Jovi! Now he is bringing all this experience to his new show on I HEART MEDIA in his unique cheeky way, that is always a pinch and never a punch!
Judge Judy’s bailiff of 25 years claims he was ‘priced out’ – Judge Judy’s bailiff of 25 years claims he was ‘priced out’