Overview

Dr. Phil Treasure Controversy refers to an episode of Dr. Phil in which a black teenager named Treasure Richards claimed she was caucasian and hated black people. After the episode grew popular, some accused the girl's story of being a hoax while people mocked the story online.

Background

On October 24th, 2018, Dr. Phil uploaded a segment featuring a 16-year old black girl named Treasure claiming she felt she was caucasian and saying particularly racist things about black people, such as "they're all ugly" and likening them to gorillas.

Developments

The segment quickly drew attention online, particularly from black communities. For example, it was covered by Black America Web^[1] who compared Treasure to notable conservative black woman Candace Owens. Others felt Treasure's story was fabricated, perhaps in an attempt to achieve the same viral fame as Danielle Bregoli of Cash Me Ousside fame.

The idea the segment was a hoax was echoed by Treasure's sister Nina in an interview with Essence.^[2] She said she felt the segment was orchestrated for a free trip to Los Angeles. Additionally, Nina Richards claims a portion of the segment where Treasure claims she didn't know her white father wasn't her biological father was a lie. She also points to Treasure's Facebook page where she is seen supporting Black Lives Matter. She states she is calling Child Protective Services to get Treasure help.

Online Spread

The segment became the subject of jokes online thanks in large part to a PewDiePie video about the episode published November 1st, 2018, gaining 9.2 million views.

This led to a surge of jokes about Treasure on /r/PewDiePie submissions, many of which compared Treasure to Woah Vicky, a white girl who stated she believed she was black. For example, Redditor apocalyptopotato made such a comparison and gained over 23,000 points (shown below, left). Redditor DougDimmadomesSon also made such a joke, gaining over 22,000 points (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References