Dr. Phil got his famewhore mitts on Ted Williams, the golden-voiced homeless guy who shot to fame just last week when a video shot by his local Columbus, Ohio newspaper went viral. Dr. Williams and his estranged family were on Phil’s show yesterday and from what I gather they got to the guy to admit that he’s drinking again, and that he was drunk when he attacked and threw an ice bucket at one of his daughters during that altercation they had a hotel in LA a couple of days ago. (I’ve tried to watch the show, but it’s not available online or on iTunes. You can see clips and a preview on Dr. Phil’s site.) Williams’ first version of events had him as the sober victim who didn’t fight back against his daughter.

This must be a ratings boon to Phil, because he’s had Williams on Tuesday, Wednesday, and now today, Thursday. I feel like this guy has been railroaded and used by the press, but at least Dr. Phil is helping him during these tough love pseudo counseling sessions with the family he abandoned. Williams admits to Phil that he was a crack addict and it sounds like he has a girlfriend back in Columbus who is also an addict. The advice Phil gives Williams is very practical, and he’s focused on ensuring he doesn’t throw away this “second chance” (I’m sure it’s the guy’s umpteenth chance) at escaping a life on the streets. Dr. Phil bugs me, but he’s saying the same thing we all are about how Williams needs help at managing all these opportunities, and he’s calling the guy on his bullsh*t somewhat. Here’s some of what Phil told Williams:

What do you think I mean when I say I want to help you manage this so it works long-term?” Dr. Phil asks Ted, who says he’s been sober for two and 1/2 years.

“Making sure that I stay rooted in the recovery process,” Ted answers.

“I know that drug addiction and alcoholism is a complex disease. It’s resistant to treatment and it is subject to relapse,” Dr. Phil warns. “It will kick your ass, if you let it. You know that. It’s destroyed your life.”

Ted agrees. “I’ve lost custody of my kids. I’ve lost homes. I’ve lost everything,” he reveals.

Dr. Phil says that he’s rooting for Ted to succeed but warns him about the pitfalls of sudden fame. “That 15 minutes is going to come to an end. In two or three months, the cameras are going to go away, the lights are going to go away, all the buzz is going to go away, and you’re going to be left with a life to manage,” he says. He implores Ted to come clean about his past before any negative elements are dug up and brought to light. “You know your life has been anything but angelic.”

“True. I’ve never tried to hide that aspect,” Ted says…

“You know that you’re going to get back to the microphone, and you know you’re going to have some opportunities,” Dr. Phil says. “The question is: Why will there be a different outcome this time? The last time you had success, the last time you had a job, the last time you had it going on, you got into drugs and alcohol, and you wound up homeless on the streets.”

[From Dr. Phil.com]

That’s from the show that aired on Tuesday. Later in that show, Dr. Phil asks Ted why he didn’t support his ex wife, who is legally blind and raised two of his kids along with at least one other kid he had with another woman. (Who was a drug addict, like Ted.) He offered the very lame excuse that “Patti was a very independent mother, and she never made me feel that there was a sense of urgency to help her,” and lamely added “Patti never called me or threatened me for child support, never garnished any wages.” Are you kidding me? He also denied a story that he was annoying a local storeowner by stealing from cars in the parking lot and peeing in public. Dr. Phil didn’t ask him about the story that Ted was also pimping out his girlfriend there.

When Williams met up with his family, he kept offering them money and told his daughter not to worry because he’d buy her a Louis Vuitton purse. She answered “That won’t make up for the lost times, Daddy. I don’t care how much money you give me.”

Anyway this guy is going to rehab, I guess Dr. Phil convinced him, and that’s the best place for him for now. The more we learn about this guy, the worse he’s looking. He abandoned his family, he lies repeatedly, and he’s a criminal. I want this story to have a happy ending, though, if only for all the people that he’s disappointed all his life. Plus it’s clear that he’s kind of scared and almost helpless now that his life has changed so dramatically overnight.

This probably sounds terrible, but I keep thinking of that crack addict that Dave Chappelle played. Like this intervention on The Dr. Phil show is just a variation of this episode of Chappelle’s show LMAO at that episode. We need Chappelle to come back.

Photo credit: Fame Pictures and WENN.com