Judge Judy preparing to end decades-long run as TV's toughest judge
Judge Judy Sheindlin is planning to hang up her robe for good.
"Judge Judy is passing the gavel to her son, Adam Levy, in ‘Adam’s Law,'the courtroom program she created and is an executive producer," a rep for Sheindlin told Fox News Digital. "It premieres in national syndication this Monday, Sept. 14."
"She is not retiring, just rewiring."
During a recent interview with People, the 83-year-old judge and television personality shared that she plans on retiring from TV after her Prime Video series, "Judy Justice," comes to an end in October.
"I have a lot of other things of interest," she said. "I don’t want to do hair and makeup anymore, but I still want my message to get out there."
Her son, Levy, graduated from New York’s Hofstra Law School, and after taking a detour working as a ski instructor, he worked in private practice and as the Putnam County, N.Y., district attorney, before starting his own journey in television in 2023 on the Prime Video show "Tribunal Justice."
"There aren’t a lot of people who can carry a half hour on their own unscripted," Sheindlin said. "He has what it takes."
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Scheindlin graduated from New York Law School in 1965 and worked as a prosecutor, handling juvenile crime, domestic violence and child-abuse cases, starting in 1972.
After retiring from family court, she launched the popular syndicated show "Judge Judy," which aired for 25 seasons, from 1996 to 2021. At its peak, the show reached an estimated 10 million viewers, and Scheindlin became known for her no-nonsense attitude and classic one-liners.
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"So many of the emails and letters I get are from women who watched me and had their daughters watch me," she told the LA Times in June 2021 about the impact of the show. "They told me the show helped them take the next step, whether it was getting a divorce, leaving an abusive person, asking for a raise and never, ever becoming somebody’s prisoner."
During an interview with Fox News Digital in November 2022, Scheindlin's granddaughter, Sarah Rose, shared what her grandmother taught her, noting she does in fact have a soft side despite her TV persona.
She shared that the best piece of advice Scheindlin has given her is that "you have to define yourself, and you tell other people who you are. Not the other way around."
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"[She taught me] not to let anybody else define you but yourself," Sarah Rose said. "You have to have a good feeling about yourself and be confident in yourself. And, really, if you have that as a foundation, the opportunities are endless for where your journey might lead. I’ve always taken that to heart. No matter what anyone else’s opinions, feelings or thoughts are, I just know that I’m secure in myself. And she’s playing a big role in that."
While Sara Rose admits Scheindlin could be a "no-nonsense grandmother," she also has "a much softer, supportive side," noting she is often "the first person I call if I have a problem or a question or something that needs to get solved."
"She’s a fantastic problem solver, especially for the ones that she loves," she added.