Warning: This article contains mentions of animal cruelty that some readers may find upsetting
A Jerry Springer Show episode so controversial it was only ever aired on TV once has been shown in a new Netflix documentary.
Netflix this week added Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action, a documentary that looks into the American talk show host.
For those who live under a rock or simply refuse to watch American TV, think the yank version of Jeremy Kyle but x100, as Springer’s show was hotly controversial.
The documentaries director, a British filmmaker called Luke Sewell, said of the show’s MO was ‘exploiting guests for people’s entertainment, and ultimately just for ratings’. Take a look at the trailer here:
Sewell went on to say: “It contributed absolutely nothing positive to society in any way, and in many ways was incredibly negative.”
The documentary details some of the most controversial moments on the show, including segments such as ‘Black Supremacists vs White Supremacists’, ‘Attack of the KKK Dad’, and the precursor to Lily Phillips, ‘I Slept with 251 Men in 10 Hours’.
None of these segments, however, weren’t quite as controversial as one banned episode.
The banned segment was shown once, in one territory of New York, before a mountain of complaints ensured it would never be shown again.
It involved a man and a Shetland pony who, according to the man, were married.
He claimed to have left his wife and kids behind in order to marry the pony.
The segment led to various complaints and the episode being pulled over concerns about how it promoted bestiality and animal cruelty.
The crowd were kept in the dark about who his ‘wife’ was, and when a pony is led out on stage, they all begin to chant.
The man horrifyingly revealed that when he was brushing the horse, it ‘lifted [its] tail up’. He then described how he engaged in bestiality, with Springer joking and saying he was ‘going to be sick’.
He even described how he would look at pictures of the pony in ‘panties’, with pictures being shown of the poor Shetland pony – called Pixel – wearing knickers.
The horrific segment is detailed in the new documentary, with a producer explaining how it came about.
Toby Yoshimura described receiving a phone call from a viewer at ‘3 or 4 in the morning’, saying: “He says, ‘Hi my name is Mark… I’ve been meaning to call the show for a long time because you guys are the only people who would really understand me. I left my wife and my two daughters for a Shetland pony’.
“I’m like, ‘This is a f**king dream’. He said that he and Pixel had looked at each other and they had an immediate connection. There was this weird buzz in the studio where nobody could talk about it. We were all sworn to silence because we had to make it a surprise.”
A Chicago media critic, Robert Feder, had a very different view of the episode, saying: “To have a guy on that married a horse, that was kissing a horse on stage, this was the most vile, grotesque freak show on television.”
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action is available to watch on Netflix now.
If you see an animal in distress and/or in need of help, contact the RSPCA’s national animal cruelty line on 0300 1234 999 from 8am to 5pm seven days a week, or visit their website for further advice. UNILAD
