GREENWICH, CT – Stepping foot into Judge Judy's sprawling home, you quickly realize that the former family court judge and longtime TV personality doesn't need a robe, gavel or bench to hold court.
Born Judith Sheindlin, the 83-year-old is strong in her beliefs, passionate about her projects and will always tell it like it is. After all, that's what made her a household name as a family court judge, presiding over cases on TV for more than two decades.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, Sheindlin will mark the 30th anniversary of her self-titled TV show with a 90 minute special on CBS (8 p.m. ET/PT). The show will look back at Sheindlin's career, and ahead to what's next, which includes plans to retire her camera presence and work on "Judyverse," an animated
series that she writes, produces and voices.
While her latest project moves forward, Sheindlin doesn't hesitate to reflect on what her legacy might be.
"I came to decisions based upon what I saw and what I knew was both legal and morally correct," the judge tells USA TODAY. "Sometimes I took risks and I still take risks. You could just bask in the admiration. But as you see from this interview, I'm still willing to take a risk."
In true form to the persona millions came to love on TV, Sheindlin pulls no punches as she opines on everything from the country's Supreme Court term limits to political correctness. And despite its flaws, she's proud of America.
"If you don't like this country, go somewhere else," she says. "Don't come to the greatest country in the world, the most successful country in the world and say, 'I want to change it.' There are other countries that have the something else that you want. Go there."
While talking about her hopes for the next year (she turns 84 on Oct. 21), Sheindlin is specifically railing against socialism.
"We are a capitalist country that revered excellence, that revered entrepreneurship, that revered all the things that made us great," she continues, ticking off the creation of the polio vaccine, Apple, Amazon and even AI advancements, of which she notes, "Whether you like it or not, it's there."
"We did that because we encouraged brilliance and excellence," she adds. "Those people pushed me. You said, 'Everybody should be equal.' Well, everybody's not equal. Some people are tall. Some people are short. Some people are musical. Some people are not. Some people have big breasts. Some people have no breasts. They're different."
All rise. Court is in session.
RuPaul, Steven Spielberg take part in 'Judge Judy' CBS special
On "Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable," viewers will get a look at the makings of a top-rated TV show that started in fall 1996 and the woman at the center of it. Sheindlin was a family court judge who gained national attention in 1993 after she was profiled in the Los Angeles Times and on "60 Minutes." That same year, a vacancy opened on "The People's Court" with the departure of Judge Joseph Wapner. Sheindlin was approached by a production company to preside over her own show, and the rest is history.
Guests on "Judge Judy: Unfiltered, Unforgettable" include Amy Poehler, Samuel L. Jackson, Steven Spielberg and RuPaul. The program will be available to stream the next day on Paramount+.
In the special, Jackson jokes that while he and Sheindlin were having tea in London, more onlookers knew who she was than him. The judge downplays the story, noting that "nobody mistakes Sam Jackson for 'that guy who's an actor.'"
As for RuPaul Charles, Sheindlin says she met him on a long flight early on in her TV journey. "I really fell in love with him. He is so different from what you would expect," she says of the "Drag Race" host, noting they bonded over their respect for "order, rules and responsibility."
A five-time Emmy winner, Sheindlin says her first taste of fame came "in a small circle" as a family court judge in New York. It didn't compare to a show that ran for decades in 164 countries and territories. Now wherever she goes, "people know your face."
"Which means that you have to get dressed in the morning, you can't go out looking like a skank because somebody's going to take a picture of you," she says. "You don't have arguments with your husband in public. You don't discipline a grandchild in public."
It sounds like Sheindlin's next book could be on dealing with fame (she's written four nonfiction books and two for children). She credits her humble beginnings in Brooklyn for how she's dealt with being a celebrity. Sheindlin was raised middle class by a father who was a dentist and a mother "who ran my father." She never forgot how to handle her own cooking, cleaning and sewing, even if now she doesn't necessarily need to worry about any of them. This trait allowed her to relate to anyone, whether it be a defendant in court or a celebrity in public.
And that leads Sheindlin to a thought that is sure to get people talking.
"I think in the middle of this country, there are more people who long for the 1950s then long for the 2030s," she says. "They long for a time when people respected each other."
"You can't pick up a paper without seeing violence and hate speech and antisemitism and racism and cruelty and beheadings," she continues. "People can't even get together with their families anymore, because you have one section of the family that is more liberal, one is more conservative. They can't even talk to each other with civility."
But, Sheindlin is quick to quip that she doesn't have this issue in her household with her husband, former New York State Supreme Court justice Jerry Sheindlin. "I don't have that in my family, because everybody's afraid of me."
Judge Judy on her son's next chapter, knowing 'when to say goodbye'
As we sit in her husband's home office, crews are setting up for a party to celebrate her son Adam Levy's new TV show, "Adam's Law." Her four words of advice for Levy were simple: "Don't screw this up."
The judge can only remember telling her son that one other time: when he started the show "Tribunal Justice," where he served on a three-judge panel. The court show began in 2023 and streamed on Amazon's Freevee service before moving to Prime Video.
"I'm very proud of him," she says of her son, a two-term district attorney in New York. "If he wasn't ready, I would not have encouraged it because the last thing you want to do for a child is set them up for failure. I don't care whether they're three or 13 or 53. You don't want to put them in a position where they're going to fail."
As for Sheindlin's next chapter, she'll help produce her son's show, and is currently shopping around her animated series "Judyverse," where she tackles fictional cases that touch on hot topics (the first episode deals with Gen Z in the workplace).
"It's time for me to step back from this side of the camera," she says. "I've enjoyed it for a long time, but you have to know when to say goodbye and went to transition into something else. And I think that time is right for me."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge Judy unfiltered – Inside her world of TV fame, family and her next chapter
