Note: This article talks about sexual assault, abuse, and murder, which may be disturbing for some readers.
I’m sure most of you know Bhad Bhabie, also known as Danielle Bregoli, from her famous saying “Cash me outside, howbow dah?”. She quickly gained popularity after her appearance on Dr. Phil, on an episode called “I Want to Give Up My Car-Stealing, Knife-Wielding, Twerking 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Tried to Frame Me for a Crime”. Her mother brought her to the show to talk about her daughter’s bad behaviour, which included stealing a crew member’s car while they were filming. Because of this, Dr. Phil sent her to Turn-About Ranch, a program for troubled teens that he has sent multiple of his guests to. She then came back to the show a second time, in 2017, to talk about her time at the ranch. In this video, she said her stay was fine, and she was glad she went.
Despite this, in March of 2021 Danielle published a YouTube video about how she actually felt about Turn-About Ranch. She came forward about the abuse that her and others experienced while they were there. She explained that she kept quiet for a long time, specifically because she had no evidence. The teens weren’t allowed to have technology during their stay, plus there were no cameras that could have caught any of the events. It would be her word against the staff’s, and with her reputation she didn’t think anyone would believe her. That was until another teen that attended Turn-About Ranch came forward and accused the staff of punishing her after confiding in them about the sexual assault she experienced from another staff member. The following is a quote from an article published by Kuer 90.1 in February 2021, where she talks about the abuse she faced as punishment for reporting what happened to her.
Instead, I experienced retaliation from the ranch after I spoke up. In what appeared to me to be punishment for reporting my abuse, I was required to spend extra time picking up horse manure, walking in circles around a horse corral, and sitting at a desk facing a wall for hours. I also had to do forced labour outside in below-freezing temperatures, and sleep on a wooden plank with no pillow.
She filed a lawsuit against Dr. Phil for negligence after he pressured her father into sending her to Turn-About Ranch while allegedly knowing the facility had various complaints and charges of physical and emotional harm to minors. She also sued the ranch for mistreatment, but they denied the allegations and said they could not take any further action after her parents pulled her out of the program and refused to communicate with the company.
Danielle Bregoli goes on to talk about what she went through at the ranch, including the traumatic event that happened in 2016, where a teen killed and severely injured 2 staff members while trying to escape.
After all of these allegations Dr. Phil responded in a news broadcast, saying “She went to Turn-About four or five years ago, and she had a bad experience. Obviously, I would hate that, we’d be sorry about that. But we don’t have anything to do with what happens with guests once they leave the stage. That’s between the guardian and the parent and whatever facility they go to. So we’re not involved in that, we don’t have any feedback from them, so whatever happens once they are there, that’s between them and the facility. I would assume if she had a problem, she would file a complaint with the proper authorities five years ago. I really don’t know much about it.”
Danielle responded with another video criticizing him for saying she should have spoken up about it earlier even though she was only 13 at the time. She also claimed he lied about not knowing what goes on at the ranch since her mother signed a consent form that allowed reports from Turn-About Ranch to be sent directly to the Dr. Phil Show. He was also the one that approved the extension of her stay from 100 days to 6 months, proving that he is in contact with the facility. She concludes the video by saying he is desperately trying to save his reputation, but there are too many victims that have spoken up for people not to believe them.
Unfortunately, this is something that is still happening in the different parts of the US and even in Canada, but the good news is that the #BreakingCodeSilence movement is gaining awareness, and hopefully there will soon be an end to these awful events.
A step towards this direction has been accomplished by Paris Hilton, who talked about her abuse at another troubled teen facility in Utah. She testified for a now-passed Utah state bill that bans mistreatment in troubled youth centers.
For more information and ways to help you can visit the Breaking Code Silence or Youth Rights page.
