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R.I.P. Sylvia Browne

I remember she'd be on Montel almost every week by the time his show got cancelled, doing her usual psychic "thing".

-crainbebo
 
She was a horrible woman. I don't rejoice at her death, but I am glad she can't hurt anyone anymore.

Sadly, there are surely countless others waiting in the wings to take her place as the king/queen of scamming the grieving and vulnerable.
 
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Here's an exchange Ms. Browne had on Montel ten years ago with the now-deceased mother of Amanda Berry:

Louwana Miller: Can you tell me if they’ll ever find her? Is she out there?

Sylvia Browne: She’s — see, I hate this when they’re in water. I just hate this. She’s not alive, honey. And I’ll tell you why, here we go again. Your daughter was not the type that would not have called you. …

Miller: So you don’t think I’ll ever get to see her again?

Browne: Yeah, in heaven, on the other side.
Click to expand...

Of course, we found out this year that Amanda is very much alive. Because of Ms. Browne, Louwana went it her grave having given up hope to find her daughter.

Ms. Browne never apologized for this, or any of her many wrong predictions. She never had any outward remorse about the lives she shattered or the people she traumatized.

Her latest failed prediction: that she would die at 88. Missed it by that much.
 
James Randi on Sylvia Browne's death:
James Randi said:
To explain to this apparently dense man [Montel Williams] where his judgment has reverted to the level of a 5-year-old, I’ll point out that Browne was not at all funny "ho-ho" but frightening – to anyone with any compassion. She fed eagerly on the insecurities, the grief, the need and desperation, of her victims. They turned to her for help, at great cost -- $850 for a 20-minute telephone chat as she squatted before the TV camera like a taloned Jabba the Hutt confronting Luke Skywalker – played by Montel – and graveled out anything-but-funny, unfounded, useless, and damaging pap that added to their confusion and pain – but which made Montel and his sponsors ecstatic, because they could hear those cash register sounds as their products slid off store shelves.
Click to expand...
Read the rest of Mr. Randi's blog entry here.
 
People who claim to be psychos (Er, psychics) All fall into one of two main categories:

They may think they have that "talent" but are really deceived and only fooling themselves and the people gullible enough to believe them.

They're outright frauds and know how to pull the scam on those same gullible people. From what little I've read about Sylvia Browne today I believe she falls in the category of being a fraud and is typical of what garbage is on trash talk TV.
 
AKA said:
Here's an exchange Ms. Browne had on Montel ten years ago with the now-deceased mother of Amanda Berry:



Of course, we found out this year that Amanda is very much alive. Because of Ms. Browne, Louwana went it her grave having given up hope to find her daughter.

Ms. Browne never apologized for this, or any of her many wrong predictions. She never had any outward remorse about the lives she shattered or the people she traumatized.

Her latest failed prediction: that she would die at 88. Missed it by that much.
Click to expand...

I was going to cite this very example; Ms. Berry's mother died of a heart attack shortly thereafter. The occult is not a nice place. Note such people and avoid them
 
I was a bit worried I was going to get ganged up on for speaking ill of the very recently-deceased. I'm glad I'm not alone in my dislike for this charlatan.
 
This woman and her "gift" deserves no passing thought or mourning. She was a modern day snake oil slinging huckster who lived by the words of P.T. Barnum that "The bigger the humbug, the better the people will like it" which people today mistakenly quote him as saying "There's a sucker born every minute" but the message between the actual quote and the simplified one remains the same; If enough people are duped to believe in a load of hokum it can often gain traction as legitimate but more importantly, PROFITABLE.

Sylivia preyed on the fragile emotional state of grieving people dealing with loss and heartache and built an incredible sum of money doing so. For that alone, I appluad her passing because she can no longer dupe the gullible. Unfortunately, there will be countless others to take her place.
 
Montel benefited from her as she was a weekly guest. I think Dr.Phil made a good decision to stay away from having her or someone like her on his show when his show took off and Montel's ended.

While Montel's career is mainly in infomercials now, Dr. Oz has invited him on more than a couple of occasions. I wonder if Montel's reputation is damaged through his link with her?
 
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