Several former The Price Is Right models have come forward in Entertainment Weekly's new report detailing a culture of sexual harassment during Bob Barker's tenure as host, painting a disturbing picture of workplace conditions on one of television's most beloved game shows.
The women, who worked as "Barker's Beauties" between the 1980s and early 2000s, describe an environment where inappropriate comments, unwanted advances, and professional retaliation were normalized. One former model recounts being told her job security depended on her willingness to socialize with Barker after hours. Another describes being replaced after rejecting his overtures. These aren't vague allegations - they're specific, corroborated accounts from multiple women over multiple decades.
What makes this particularly significant is Barker's carefully cultivated public image. For 35 years, he was America's genial game show host, the guy who reminded you to spay and neuter your pets, the institution. That persona was so successful that when model Dian Parkinson sued him for sexual harassment in 1994 (later settling), many dismissed it as a shakedown. The culture protected him.
This isn't about "canceling" Barker, who died in 2023. It's about acknowledging what happened on that set and recognizing that the problem extended beyond one man - producers, network executives, and others enabled this behavior because The Price Is Right was a ratings juggernaut and Barker was untouchable.
The broader television industry has spent the past several years reckoning with similar stories: Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Les Moonves. Game shows, with their power imbalances and replaceable on-camera talent, were particularly vulnerable to abuse. That these women are finally being heard, even after 's death, matters.
