Jerry Springer Gets Hit

“Jerry Springer,” daytime TV’s hottest — and lowest-brow — talk show is fighting charges that some of its fist-flying, breast-baring antics are staged. The syndicated newsmagazine Extra and Rolling Stone magazine both found former guests who said they were coached by show employees to get into fights. While the show’s producers denied it and said there are strict policies for avoiding fights, Springer conceded the charges were probably true. “Maybe a producer went over the edge,” he said. “Maybe a producer got someone to fake a fight, or make up a story.” He said that would be “totally wrong, against our policy, and we’ll deal with it.” While guests are told not to fight, they are encouraged to be animated and get into people’s faces, he said. And some of the topics — a woman who tells her boyfriend she’s sleeping with someone else — are bound to produce visceral reactions. “Understand,” an unapologetic Springer told the Associated Press, “we have no obligation to make the show truthful, because it’s entertainment, not news.”