A model is accusing the former The Price Is Right host Bob Barker of forcing her into early retirement. Speaking with People, Holly Hallstrom feels comfortable now telling her story about her time on the show.
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However, it's worth noting that Barker passed away in 2023 and isn't around to defend himself against the accusations. Fellow model Dian Parkinson sued Barker for sexual harassment after leaving the show. Hallstorm said that it had a cascading effect on the rest of the cast.
"Every time you went to the studio, you had to sit with lawyers who all they wanted to hear was all the bad stuff about Dian and how Bob could not have possibly sexually harassed Dian," she shared in the documentary.
"I wanted nothing to do with it," Hallstrom continued. "I was the only one that was asked to give a deposition. And did not. I didn't want to commit felony perjury, which is exactly what it would have been if I gave a testimony. I was on his s--t list and I knew it."
The Price Is Right model says that she refused to testify in court to support Barker. She believes that led to her eventual firing from the show.
"I refused to testify in court, to commit felony perjury for him. That was the final straw, but it's against the law to fire an employee for failing to testify on your behalf in a court of law. So they could not fire me for that," she explained.
'Price Is Right' Model Speaks Out
She said, "So instead, Barker said I was overweight, and that's why I was off the show. I was not surprised that he used that as the excuse, the reason, the justification for firing me, but when I was asked why I was fired, I told them, 'I was told it was because my weight was a problem.' "
While the lawsuit was dropped, Barker still had it out for the model, according to Hallstorm. She said he essentially forced her into an early retirement.
"When I didn't agree, that's when the whole thing blew up. And then lawyers called me and started negotiating the terms of retirement, and I said, 'But I don't want to retire. There's no need for me to retire.' But there really was no choice. Barker wanted me gone. I was being fired and I wouldn't be coming back, after nearly 20 years on the show. I was devastated," Hallstrom shared.
She told PEOPLE, "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. And that's when I said, 'I'm not taking this. I'm not going quietly.' And because I had not, like Dian, taken the settlement and signed the non-disclosure agreement, I could do that. I could speak out."
Ultimately, Barker filed a lawsuit for defamation against Hallstorm. It lasted for years until he dropped it in 2000 before the trial.
She explained, "He filed a bogus lawsuit against me and dragged me through court for 10 years until I had nothing left. And that's why I didn't speak out for so many years, because he was alive. I didn't speak out until he was dead because even though he lost, he would've done it again in a heartbeat."
