Judge Judy Has Revealed The Real Reason Her Show Came To An End

A world without Judge Judy just doesn’t seem right, does it? It’s pretty much been a permanent fixture on television for a generation. Judy herself isn’t one to go quietly, either. So why is CBS pulling the plug?

Was viewership down? Or did Judy just want to bow out after 25 years in front of the cameras? Probably not, as she’s already back on our screens in a new show. And that doesn’t explain why Judge Judy has come to an end.

It could be a big mistake, but Judy does have to make tricky decisions every day. “Listen, you’ve got to be in it to win it – like the lottery. One of the things that family court judges worry about – at least the ones [who] have a soul – is that you’re always taking a risk,” she said in a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“You’ve dodged a bullet if you can end your career in the family court having [not made a mistake],” Judy added. That’s a lot of pressure, and we can only imagine the toll it must take after a while. There are also those times when you have to put aside your own feelings for the sake of the law.

And Judy’s done just that. During her chat with The Hollywood Reporter, the interviewer said, “Tell me about a time where your own moral code came into conflict with the law as it’s written.” Judy responded by giving an example from her own show.

“Well, [the law] is supposed to be even-handed. You and I both know that’s not true. And because you’re dealing with lives, you have to rely on common sense and sometimes your gut,” the TV judge said. That was clear from one particularly unusual case.

During the episode, Judy had to hear from two people who claimed they owned a dog. On the one side, you had a guy who said the dog had been his for a number of years before someone had stolen it. And on the other, there was a woman who claimed she’d owned the animal for more than 12 months and had a receipt to prove it. So, what did Judy decide?

Judy explained, “This dog was in the back of the courtroom, so I had it brought up and said, ‘Just put the dog down.’ The dog went right over to the man. Now, that’s not law. But I know that when my husband and I come in, my dog runs to me.”

“I’m the one who feeds her. She’s my dog. So I knew – at least I hoped – that the dog would know who it loved. You’ve got to be flexible,” Judy added. Maybe she just couldn’t be as flexible as she wanted on Judge Judy? Or maybe Judy’s just fed up with the legal system itself.

When asked what the “biggest flaw” of the law was, she responded, “The length of time that it takes for people to get a conclusion... Civil or criminal cases take too long. [This is] primarily... a result of lazy judges or lawyers who have a financial interest in keeping a case going.” But while she may still have that sharp tongue we know and love, there’s another side to her – one you may be surprised by.

You see, Judy doesn’t just shrug off her gown and settle down on the couch at the end of a long day. “When I’ve had a frustrating day at work, which I do occasionally, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to get out the silver polish.” Yes, she does housework for fun!

“[I] do some frames around the house or find an old pair of earrings and clean them up — even if I never wear them again. I like to see things tied up in a bow,” the star added. Maybe that explains why the show had to come to an end.

There’s also the small matter of Judy’s age. She may not look it, but she was born in 1942 – and that means she’s worked a lot longer than most of her contemporaries. Could she just be winding down for retirement? Well, she gave an honest answer to The Hollywood Reporter.

Judy said, “I’m not tired. I don’t play golf or tennis. I have no desire to learn how to play mahjong, chess, or checkers. I know what I like to do. Why, at my stage in life, would I try to find something else when I already know what I like?”

“And this isn’t a 9-to-5 job,” Judy continued. “I’ve still got the time to see the children I love, the grandchildren who are growing up very fast, and the cute mate who I still get a kick out of.” On top of that, money shouldn’t be an issue, either.

Judge Judy producers made its star America’s highest-paid daytime TV host. But the amount she raked in may just blow your mind. Apparently, she was earning around $47 million for each season! She certainly doesn’t need to work anymore, then, but that’s not actually the reason she called it quits.

That huge salary suggests that the show was still doing well, so what gives? Well, Judy herself has revealed the real reason she’s left her famous courtroom behind. It all came to light when she agreed to an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“I’ve had a 25-year-long marriage with CBS, and it’s been successful,” Judy began. “Next year will be our 25th season – [our] silver anniversary. And CBS, I think, sort of felt they wanted to optimally utilize the repeats of my program because they now have 25 years of reruns.” Finally, the truth was coming out.

“What [CBS] decided to do was sell a couple of years’ worth of reruns,” Judy continued. “But I’m not tired. So, [my new show] Judy Justice will be coming out [on a different network]. The following couple of years, you should be able to catch all the reruns that CBS has sold, [but] Judy will be going elsewhere!” She seemed chipper about it, but more was going on behind the scenes.

Away from the cameras, Judy was a little less buoyant about the situation, and she even released a frosty public announcement. “[CBS] has decided to monetize their Judge Judy library of reruns. I wish them good luck with their experiment,” she said, curtly. But there was even more going on here than met the eye.

You see, Judy claimed that she actually owned those reruns and was planning to offload them to different networks herself. CBS stepped in before that could happen, however, and purchased the library from under her. And that may have made Judy mad. It certainly explains why the world-famous judge opted to say goodbye to her small-screen home.

Now, of course, Judy’s got a new show, Judy Justice, which you can watch on Amazon’s IMDb TV. And surprisingly, the negotiations went off without a hitch – even down to the host’s rumored wages. So, is she being paid as much as she was at CBS?

Judy hinted this was the case, saying, “Without giving you specifics – because that’s a little unseemly – my compensation has not been a secret. It’s been out there for a long time – not by me, but it got out there and had its own life. So, the folks at Amazon understood what the parameters were. There was no issue.”

Not even Amazon wanted to challenge Judy, which says a lot about her own influence! And according to the judge, the new show isn’t going to stray too far from what her fans are used to. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

Judy told The Hollywood Reporter, “Look, I do what I do. So, within the confines of me doing what I do, we’ll be changing some of the things around me. But I’m not becoming a ballet dancer.” To be honest, we’d probably watch that, too...

“We have to deliver a certain number of episodes by December, and then Amazon will make the determination how and when they want to release this show,” Judy added. But when the current run of Judy Justice ends, will the star finally hang up that gavel for good?

“I don’t know,” Judy concluded. “Give me a robe and a case, and I’ll do my job. I had wonderful people producing and directing the Judge Judy program, and a couple of them will be following me to Amazon. That will keep my life on a steady keel.” However, there’s a lot more that Judy hides from the cameras. Ready to dig into the details? All rise!

Yep, the judge’s career and personal life contain as many twists and turns as even the most complicated court cases. And that’s no small feat, considering many of those who have appeared in front of her would describe it as one of the hardest experiences of their lives. But what they don’t know is that Judy has fought hard for all of her life too.

And while they may feel they've been treated unfairly, nobody realizes what goes into becoming the most successful TV judge in history. Judy never set out to be an entertainment icon, but her firm sense of right and wrong carried her through her entire life.

Born in Brooklyn in 1942, Judy Blum developed street smarts from a young age. Her family was pretty ordinary, but her eventual greatness may have been foreshadowed by where she spent her teen years. She attended James Madison High School, which had seen many leading political figures pass through its doors. Though not the most dedicated student, Judy had high expectations of herself — even if others tried to push her aside.

Unsurprisingly, Judy was the sort of smart, back-talking kid you wouldn’t have wanted to argue with. Her father Murray Blum didn’t try and curb this type of behavior though – he encouraged it. And Judy’s dad even thought she might go into politics. In 2012 she remembered to WDRB News, “It was a good kind of upbringing. It gave me a confidence, and when you have confidence that’s the best gift you can give a child.”

As one of the few women in her law school, Judy advanced to becoming a successful corporate lawyer — but she hated it. Finding more satisfaction from family life, Judy quit her job in order to focus on being a stay-at-home mom.

The ex-lawyer realized she needed a change of scenery when her first marriage fell apart in 1976. That wasn't her only impetus, however. She was outraged by the sight of innocent children being neglected by the court system...and knew they needed an advocate.

Judy reentered law to champion child support causes, and her efforts soon caught the eye of the mayor. With a Family Court judge position gathering cobwebs, he sent Judy in to restore law and order.

She gained a reputation as a fierce and direct judge, not willing to take any excuses from negligent parents and relatives in her courtroom. "I’m always a big believer in ‘the buck stops right there,’" Judy once asserted.

Her profession even rekindled her love life. Running into defense attorney Jerry Sheindlin at a bar, Judy decided she liked what she saw. The judge demanded to know his name, and before too long they became husband and wife.

You’d never have thought from their first meeting that Judy would end up marrying Jerry Sheindlin. He remembered the moment in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1999. Apparently, Jerry was talking to a reporter when “Judy came walking in and put her finger in my face and said, ‘And who is this?’ I said, ‘Lady, get your finger out of my face.’ We’ve been together ever since.” Awww.

It definitely wasn’t all smooth sailing for Judy and Jerry. The famous judge revealed in the 2020 book What Makes a Marriage Last, “I actually had to drag him to the altar... He had no intention of divorcing his wife, even though they had been separated for three or four years. After we were together for about a year, I said, ‘I want to see your divorce in the newspaper or don’t bother calling again.’”

Judge Judy might have wished in April 2015 that her husband wasn’t quite so talkative. Because when the pair of them gave an interview to the Daily Mail, she said that she never kept any of her TV awards in her bedroom. And her husband chimed in with, “No awards? She just gave me an award last night.” Cheeky!

The couple had five children together, three of whom went on to enter law themselves. Judy could've called it quits in the 1990s and had a fantastic career, but one twist changed her life forever.

Courtroom TV shows enjoyed limited success up until that point, with The People's Court leading the charge. When that program dismissed Judge Joseph Wapner, Judy half-jokingly called the producers and volunteered to take over the seat.

They said no. Even so, Judy's national profile rose to astonishing heights. Her accomplishments and cutting wit led 60 Minutes to feature her, plus she published the best-selling memoir Don't Pee On My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining.

Then, in 1995, America's interest in legal drama skyrocketed during the O.J. Simpson murder case. TV executives recognized there was a void to fill after this media circus wrapped up. Judy emerged as the obvious solution, though she had some interesting conditions.

For one thing, she wanted to bring her actual bailiff onto the program. Judy and Petri Hawkins-Byrd had built a solid rapport over the years, which made him the perfect collaborator. Sure enough, fans couldn't get enough of their brand of swift justice. Petri played a part in landing the role on TV.

Sometimes the best way to get a job is to straight-up ask – even if your boss is a super intimidating person. In 2020 Bailiff Petri Hawkins-Byrd told the New York Post that he sent Judy a fax saying, “If you ever need a bailiff, I still look good in uniform.” Amazingly, it worked, and how.

Onscreen, Judge Judy and Bailiff Petri Hawkins-Byrd seem like the best of friends. Yet off screen – while the pair are friends – they don’t really socialize much. Petri told the LA Times in 2012, “We have a good working relationship, and we have friends in common, but we travel in different circles.” He also intriguingly added, “We’re diametrically opposed on some issues.”

Before Judge Judy shot to fame, she worked at Manhattan Family Court and a familiar face – Petri Hawkins-Byrd – was her bailiff. One day, though, the latter did a snarky impression of Judy to their co-workers when he thought she wasn’t around. But the TV personality was, and Petri absolutely assumed he was about to lose his job. Nope! Thankfully, it turned out she had a sense of humor.

But not all of her staff are afforded that forgiveness! An anonymous source who went to Radar Online in 2016 claimed that Judge Judy treated her staff “like dirt.” It’s an unsubstantiated report, but the unnamed person said that Judy’s “unwritten rules” included, “Don’t say something stupid or you pay the price. Avoid speaking. Avoid eye contact.” Yikes.

In 1999 Judge Judy rival The People’s Court employed the eponymous star’s husband Jerry Sheindlin as a reality TV judge. Luckily, though, it didn’t seem to cause much marital friction. Jerry told Variety after retiring in 2000, “Part of the adventure was trying to nip at the heels of my wife. Unfortunately, I could never catch up with her.”

From its opening episode, Judge Judy grabbed a stranglehold of the ratings and never looked back. Though the host killed time between cases by playing gin rummy, she became a different beast once she donned her robe.

But not everyone is a Judge Judy fan. Indeed, one-time People’s Court star Judge Joseph Wapner never liked her. He told Metropolitan News in 2003, “She’s a disgrace to the profession. She does things I don’t think a judge should do. She tells people to shut up. She’s rude. She’s arrogant. She demeans people.” Judy, however, largely ignored him.

In 2015 David Kohalisky, a one-time Judge Judy participant, told Radar Online the show had “destroyed” him. He claimed that the producers had tried to get him to look “money hungry” and outed him as gay on television. David added, “Being on the show ruined my life.”

Singer Morrissey is known for being quite a volatile person. But even so, his furious description of eating at the same restaurant as Judge Judy was a bit surprising. He told the Daily Mail in 2017, “Judge Rude-y could not shut up. I was ready to ram her face into her own spaghetti.”

And while this program forced Judy to step away from an actual judgeship — she became an independent arbitrator — she established herself as a legal authority. In fact, a 2013 Reader's Digest poll indicated that Americans trusted her far more than the Supreme Court.

She was paid like a star, too. Every few years, when her contract was up for renewal, Judy had dinner with the CBS president. Rather than negotiate, however, she would slide over a note that displayed her desired salary.

On the show, the eagle-eyed viewers among you may have spotted that certain members of the audience keep repeatedly cropping up in the background. And that’s because they’re actually paid to be there! Yes, would-be actors keen to get their faces on TV can apply to the show’s producers and reportedly make $8 an hour for their troubles.

Audiences usually sit in on TV shows assuming they’ll have to clap at some point, but not the Judge Judy one. They’re not allowed to applaud for the litigants or even the eponymous star herself, no matter what ends up being said. Though they are permitted to laugh at Judy’s frequent cutting remarks.

Sixty researchers sift through cases throughout the country – putting forward only the juiciest to appear on the show. People suing family members are particularly sought after. Executive producer Randy Douthitt told WDRB in 2012, “That way it pulls in the audience a little bit more, there’s an emotional tie that’s been broken, and you end up with a bit of a mini soap opera.”

Guests are sent an interesting letter when they’re selected to be on Judge Judy. It reads, “If your case is selected to be arbitrated on Judge Judy and plaintiff wins the case, we guarantee to pay plaintiff the full amount that was awarded against you, you pay nothing.” And it’s an offer most people find hard to refuse.

In 2007 a former producer on Judge Judy filed a lawsuit claiming that producer Randy Douthitt had vowed to stop featuring black people on the show. He allegedly told his staff to look only for “white, upscale, pretty people” instead. Though an anonymous insider told TMZ that the case had “no merit.”

Back in 2010 a man called Jonathan Coward appeared on Judge Judy. He’d been accused of killing a cat… but it was all made up. He and his roommates later admitted they’d lied in order to get a free Los Angeles trip and the Judge Judy appearance money. Obviously, there’s a silver lining there though, since it meant a cat didn’t die after all.

Her recent bump to $47 million made her the highest paid TV host in history. And make no mistake — she's part of the television machine now. Though the program presents itself as a New York courtroom, it's actually shot in a Los Angeles studio. She puts that money to good use.

What do you do when you’re a multi-millionaire reality TV star? You invest in real estate, of course! Judge Judy owns four expensive properties – in Connecticut, Rhode Island and California plus a main home in Florida. The latter home alone features eleven bathrooms and six bedrooms, according to Cheat Sheet. Yep, it’s alright for some.

Judge Judy has millions of dollars, five houses, and a yacht… but does she have a private jet too? You bet she does. Or rather, she did. She used it to fly to tapings of Judge Judy, but it was wrecked in the 2016 El Nino Storm. It’s unlikely she’s flying coach now, though.

What better symbol of wealth and luxury than a yacht? And Judge Judy once owned one – a very appropriately named one to boot. It was called “Triumphant Lady” and it featured among other things a gymnasium and a glass-bottomed pool. Eventually Judy sold it – but apparently for less than she paid, so someone somewhere might have gotten very lucky indeed.

In 2020 the lawyer made a shocking announcement. Judge Judy would stop airing on CBS and the eponymous star would move to a different channel. But rumors spread that there had been a falling out between the network and Judy herself. After all, official statement on the matter ended with the words, “I wish them good luck with their experiment,” which doesn’t exactly sound amicable…