Judge Judy Sheindlin’s rulings are not always final it seems, especially when it comes to her love life.
The 74-year-old jurist-turned-television star is speaking out about her personal life in a rare interview, revealing that she divorced her first husband over his disregard for her career and got rid of her second husband when she grew tired of catering to his demands.
That second divorce was a brief one however, with Shiendlin making the decision to remarry husband number two after just one year apart.
Twenty-seven years later, she and second husband Jerry are still going strong.
‘I missed him, I missed him and I really found out – this is not to denigrate your species – actually, most men are alike,’ says Shiendlin of her split from Jerry on the premiere of the Fox News show OBJECTified,’ which airs at 8pm this Sunday.
She then jokes that while all men may be alike, Jerry was a bit different than other males his age, saying: ‘Mine had hair! ‘
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The whole truth: Judge Judy Sheindlin (above) speaks about her divorces from first husband Ronald Levy and second husband Jerry Sheindlin in a new interview
Badgering the witness: The 74-year-old TV star was only divorced from Jerry for a year however, remarrying him when she realized ‘most men are alike’ (Jerry and Judy above in 2006)
Sheindlin married her husband Jerry back in 1977 while working as a prosecutor in the family court system.
Over the next 13 years the couple rose up the ranks in the legal system, with Jerry taking a post on the New York Supreme Court and Sheindlin being appointed as a family court judge by Mayor Ed Koch.
Things took a turn though in 1990, leading to the couple’s divorce after 14 years.
It was a brief separation however, which came soon after Sheindlin lost her father, but in the end she says she learned some valuable lessons.
‘I just had to come to terms with the fact that men of that generation are different,’ explains Sheindlin.
‘They expect, even if they have no right, they expect to be taken care of or catered to.’
Things were even more difficult for Sheindlin after her first marriage back in 1964 to attorney Ronald Levy.
She had just graduated and was soon to pass the bar exam, but her life as an attorney on hold to be a housewife.
‘It was time for me to get married. I was 20, almost 21. So I became a mom,’ says Sheindlin of hr thinking at the time, going on to say that she soon grew bored.
She also began having trouble with how her husband treated her desire to work.
Sustained: Sheindlin said she split from her first husband because he viewed her legal career as a ‘hobby’
‘My first husband is a lovely, lovely man but he always viewed my job as a hobby and there came a time where I resented that,’ explains Sheindlin.
The two were divorced after 12 years in 1976, and the following year she married Jerry.
She brought two children into the relationship – daughter Jamie and son Adam – while Jerry had three children from his first marriage: Gregory, Jonathan and Nicole.
Sheindlin’s success made her one of the first women in the country to become a judge, and yet when asked about this or if she considers herself a feminist, Sheindlin is surprisingly dismissive.
‘I don’t feel as if anything that has happened to me in my life was sidetracked because I was a woman,’ she reveals, downplaying her success.
And as for the feminist label, Sheindlin says: ‘I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I don’t know what that means. I actually don’t know what that means. Do I want equal pay with men? Absolutely not!’
That may be because Sheindlin earns far, far more than the ‘man.’
Amicus Curiae: Sheindlin said she and Jerry (above in 2006) split because men of his generation ‘expect to be taken care of or catered to’
In testimony given back in July 2016 that was recently released and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Sheindlin described the unorthodox way that she negotiates her salary with CBS.
‘We go to the Grill on the Alley with the president of the company. We sit across the table, and I hand him the envelope and I say, “Don’t read it now, let’s have a nice dinner. Call me tomorrow. You want it, fine. Otherwise, I’ll produce it myself.” That’s the negotiation,’ explained Sheindlin.
One year, a CBS executive did try to present Sheindlin with a counter offer, at which point she informed the man: ‘This isn’t a negotiation.’
Appellant: Sheindlin and Jerry have been married for a total of 40 years now
In that same testimony Sheindlin also said that she could produce the show herself if she wanted, earning another $20 million a year on top of her current $47 million salary.
Sheindlin’s testimony came in a deposition in response to a complaint filed by Richard Lawrence of Rebel Entertainment.
Lawrence claims that he and his company helped Sheindlin and CBS put the show together back before it debuted in 1996, and as a result are entitled to 5% of net profits, but have not seen any money in years.
Lawrence claims in his filing he stopped seeing in money in 2010, shortly after Sheindlin’s salary increased to $45 million a year for the show.
In went up in 2015 after her most recent ‘negotiation.’
Sheindlin immediately fired back at Lawrence after he submitted his complaint, saying: ‘The fact that Richard Lawrence is complaining about my salary is actually hilarious.
‘I met Mr. Lawrence for two hours some 21 years ago. Neither I nor anyone involved in the day-to-day production of my program has heard from him in 20 years. Not a card, not a gift, not a flower, not a congratulations, yet he has somehow received over $17,000,000 from my program.
‘My rudimentary math translates that into $8,500,000 an hour for Mr. Lawrence. Not a bad payday. Now complaining about not getting enough money, that’s real chutzpah!’
Lawrence called Sheindlin overpaid in his initial filing, no doubt because the larger her salary the less money he and his company would make due to the fact that they receive a percentage of only the profits.
‘And in 2013, when Scheindlin [sic] was reportedly receiving $47 million annually, no one else came close, as the next highest salaries in non-scripted television were Jon Stewart ($30 million), Matt Lauer ($25 million), and Jay Leno ($20 million),’ claims the court filing.
‘In making this deal with Scheindlin [sic], Defendants blithely ignored their contractual obligations to Rebel. As a result, almost immediately after Scheindlin’s [sic] pay raise, Rebel’s backend compensation nosedived.
All rise: Judy and Jerry with their five children (l to r: Nicole, Jerry, Gregory, Jonathan, and Judy Sheindlin, Jaime Levy and Adam Levy)
Sheindlin addressed her pay in her July testimony, claiming that her lucrative contract benefited Lawrence.
‘Mr. Lawrence should actually be kissing this right in Macy’s window because my contract with CBS for more than a decade now does not include a last look, which means the following,’ said Sheindlin.
‘Which means they can’t match another offer, which means I can produce this show myself for decades. I choose not to do that because of my age and because of the fact that I like the uncomplicated life I lead.’
She then quipped about the $20 million she was turning down by not producing the show: ‘How much can you eat?’
Sheindlin later spelled things out for Lawrence by stating: ‘It’s very important for you to know, because part of your complaint is that CBS conspired with me to deprive Mr. Lawrence of his backend profit. CBS had no choice but to pay me what I wanted because otherwise I could take it wherever I wanted to take it or do it myself.’
And should CBS try and negotiate, Sheindlin has a response for that at the ready, not thjat she had ever needed it thus far in her career.
‘You have corporate stockholders to respond to. I have nobody except my grandchildren,’ said Sheindlin.
‘You’re going to tell me you’re going to close down my show because you will be making less money this year than you made last year if you double my salary or if you give me another 10 million dollars per year? You won’t.’
She then added: ‘We’re just going to be partners. Because after almost a decade, that’s the way it should be.’