“Price Is Right” model Holly Halstrom railed against the game show’s late host Bob Barker while discussing her firing.
The 73-year-old, who participated in E!’s new “Dirty Rotten Scandals” docuseries, declared, “I hate that man.”
Halstrom explained to People on Wednesday that she found herself on Barker’s “s–t list” when she “refused to testify in court … on [the emcee’s] behalf” when Dian Parker sued him for sexual harassment in 1994.
“I wanted nothing to do with it,” Hallstrom continued. “I was the only one [of ‘Barker’s Beauties’] that was asked to give a deposition and did not. I didn’t want to commit felony perjury, which is exactly what it would have been if I gave a testimony.”
While Halstrom believes this was the “final straw” for Barker, she noted that the network “could not fire [her] for that.”
She claimed, “Instead, Barker said I was overweight, and that’s why I was off the show. I was not surprised that he used that as the excuse, the reason, the justification for firing me.”
While Barker later denied this, Halstrom insisted, “How can you say I was not fired because of my weight when I was cut out of 50% of the show, and when I was on camera, I was hidden away behind automobiles and large appliances because of my weight problem?”
Halstrom was “devastated” and “didn’t want to retire,” telling the outlet she had “no choice” but to leave after 20 years because Barker “wanted [her] gone.”
When Halstrom, who had not signed a non-disclosure agreement, spoke out upon her exit, Barker filed a defamation lawsuit — which led Halstrom to wait until his 2023 death to address their falling out further.
“He … dragged me through court for 10 years until I had nothing left,” she recalled, noting that she subsequently sued Barker for malicious prosecution.
“Even though he lost,” Halstrom said, referencing their out-of-court settlement, “he would’ve done it again in a heartbeat.”
Since Barker’s passing at 99, Halstrom has found sharing her story “liberating.”
She gushed, “They say the truth will set you free. Man, it set me free. Absolutely, 100 percent.”
This is a developing story…
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