Woman Claims Her Life Was ‘Destroyed’ Because She Appeared on ‘The Jerry Springer Show’ as a Teen

A woman who was brought on The Jerry Springer Show three times as a teenager is speaking out about the lasting damage it caused and the adults she says should have protected her, People reported on Wednesday, April 22.

Jennifer Kreis first appeared on the controversial talk show at age 14, alongside her father, August Kreis III, who was a member of a white supremacist hate group.

The two were featured in episodes centered on extremist ideology, during which the teen used racist and antisemitic language on stage. She went so far as to threaten harm to host Jerry Springer’s daughter, Katie, according to the article.

Now 47, she’s revisiting the experience in the season premiere of ID’s docuseries Hollywood Demons.

Looking back, Kreis claims she was given no real agency in the situation. Per the outlet, she alleged that producers coached her on exactly what to say and pushed her to deliver her lines with maximum hostility. She claimed they wouldn’t move forward until she did.

“I just felt like I was a circus animal under attack, but no one knew the truth,” she said, according to the article. Kreis also confided that she endured sexual abuse throughout her childhood. “I was a kid. What choice did I have?” she explained, per People.

Kreis also alleged that her mother’s consent was never obtained for her appearances on the talk show, despite a joint custody agreement, per the report.

“The producers knew that how I was being raised was abusive in and of itself,” she said, according to the outlet.  “So why would they want to add to that by exploiting me for that same reason? How are they any better?”

Despite being thrown off the show during their second appearance, the family returned a third time when Kreis was 17. By then, she wanted nothing to do with the production, the outlet noted. “The Jerry Springer Show destroyed my life, and I’m sure many other people’s as well,” she stated.

Today, Kreis has said that sharing her story has been a path toward healing. She  acknowledges the pain her words caused while asking for understanding that, as a child, survival was all she knew.

“I’m very sorry for hurting people,” she said on the Beyond Barriers Media podcast in 2022.