Dr Phil steps into deep doodoo again

The highly publicized case of the 8 Florida teens that were arrested for viciously beating down a fellow teenager and videotaping it has caught the attention of Dr. Phil and he apparently wanted some of that action.
TMZ reports that Dr. Phil’s show allegedly paid the $33,000 bond of Mercades Nichols. Mercades was reportedly the ring leader and her grandmother recently told reporters that she couldn’t afford her bond. Most of the other teens were also released on bond this Friday night.

A guy claiming to be a producer from the Dr. Phil show escorted Mercades out of jail last night. He also told reporters to step off, because Dr. Phil had the exclusive rights to the story, video here.

Dr. Phil issued this statement to TMZ, basically blaming the controversy on his staff:

“We have helped guests and potential guests in the past when they need financial assistance to come on the show – assisting with clothing allowance, lost wages, accommodations, travel and necessities. In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines (re: the bail being paid). These staff members have been spoken to and our policies reiterated. In addition, we have decided not to go forward with the story as our guidelines have been compromised.”

Dr. Phil’s statement suggests some sort of rogue employee (producer) went down to Florida and went “beyond their guidelines.” The thing is with the bail at $33,000. In order to get the teen out of jail, the bondsman or woman would get $3,300.00 up front (10%), and the rest must be guaranteed by collateral. That’s a lot of dough for some ambitious employee acting on their own. So who really approved the money? TMZ speculates some higher up like Terry Wood (the big boss at CBS/Paramount TV) or even Dr. Phil himself would have to OK that kind of cash … not some freelancer who “went beyond the guidelines.”

Apparently Dr. Phil didn’t learn much from his interference with Britney Spears. Bailing that girl out of jail was just a bad idea, that’s why all these kids are taping these fights, because they seek attention. This girl should still be sitting in jail, not being used as a pawn for tv ratings.