I must not be watching enough TV, because I didn’t even know “The Montel Williams Show” was still on the air.
Now I know. And so do a slew of irate parents at a high school in Georgia thanks in large part to Williams’ nasty run in with a current student.
The talk show host was in Savannah, Georgia this week promoting free prescriptions for low-income residents when a high school intern with the Savannah Morning News peppered him with questions related to rising drug costs.
Williams, who has been a patient advocate since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, walked away from the female intern when she asked him: “Do you think pharmaceutical companies would be discouraged from research and development if their profits were restricted?”
Oh, and it gets worse. Later in the day Williams confronted the same intern and two other news reporters at his hotel. The talk show host claims he “mistakenly” believed they followed him there. Turns out the reporters were there to cover another assignment.
According to the Savannah Morning News, Williams walked up to teen intern and told her “I can look you up, find where you live and blow you up.”
The girl was reportedly so frightened that she filed a report with local police. According to the filing, the teen was unclear what Williams meant during his confrontation, but knew he wasn’t complimenting her.
So now Williams is in crisis mode… or at least his peeps are.
According to the high school intern, a producer from “The Montel Williams Show” invited her to a taping of the show during which the host would apologize for his “irrational” behavior.
The only problem… it’s unclear if Williams sincerely regrets threatening the teen. According to the Savannah newspaper, the intern received a letter from Williams sent from the e-mail address of the president and executive producer of Mountain Movers, Inc., which produces Williams’ talk show.
“Regrettably I reacted childishly to the situation and for that I truly apologize to all concerned. I would like to invite [the intern] and her family to appear on my show for a public apology,” the e-mail said.
The intern says she doubts that the invite came directly from Williams.
“I don’t really think it’s his statement,” she told the paper. “I think his people put it out.”
So, will the teen accept Williams’ on-air apology? Would you?