The Rise Of A New Grief Vampire: Tyler Henry, "Hollywood Medium" And... Ugh.

[HuckleB]

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/01/22/the-rise-of-a-new-grief-vampire/

"...

This time around, I’m learning of what is arguably the most despicable use of a psychic yet. It’s so bad that Susan Gerbic labeled this particular self-proclaimed psychic a “grief vampire,” and so he is. The psychic is, quite literally, the new kid on the block as far a psychics go; his name is Tyler Henry, and apparently the basic cable channel E! is really pushing a TV series featuring him, Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry.

...

As Susan Gerbic points out: "Reading more, I stop and hold my breath. Here it is. The part that makes it clear whether he is a psychic entertainer who is up-front about his act or just another grief vampire. Henry tells the interviewer his goal for the future. It is to work with parents who have lost their children to suicide. I can feel my blood pressure increasing and the hackles on the back of my neck starting to rise. He isn’t just a grief vampire; he is aspiring to be one of the most despicable types of grief vampires, tying for first place with those who work as psychic detectives. These are the people who prey on families when they are the most desperate and vulnerable. I’m appalled that he thinks this is something to aspire to. Something to be proud of!"

Indeed. This is the sort of thing that makes my skin crawl. It is at this point that I can’t help but point out that psychics aren’t the only kind of grief vampires. Cancer quacks are a particularly despicable form of the monster. They prey on the grief and desperation of cancer patients; psychics prey on the grief of those who’ve lost loved ones. Sylvia Browne used to be among the most despicable of these, but there are many others who haven’t achieved national or international prominence who function similarly. Worse, there exists an entertainment industry that promotes them. Henry will be on Dr. Phil’s show today, and you might remember that Dr. Phil has fallen for a psychics before.

...

It might well be that, as long as Henry restricts himself to doing readings on celebrities for his show, all he’s doing is harmless entertainment. The problem is that we already know he isn’t restricting himself to that. He already advertises private bookings on his own website. (We don’t know how much he charges because that isn’t listed.) He has stated that he wants to “help” parents whose children have committed suicide, and no doubt before too long he will do that. Likely the producer of his show is looking for such grieving parents right now, fodder for the grief vampire, to be shown for the morbid entertainment of the masses."

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This is just disgusting.

[HuckleB]

1. kick.

[justhanginon]

2. Dr. Phil's show is just going off when my local news comes on

and today I caught the last few minutes of his show. I didn't really know the backstory but from the few minutes I could see what a disgusting way to use people that are actually hurting and it just confirmed what I think of Dr. Phil and his crap show.