"I treat the guests on the show the same way I would expect to be treated if I appeared on the show - with respect," she said.
Scott Amedure's family is suing "The Jenny Jones Show," its producer and distributor for Amedure's slaying by Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz shot Amedure three days after the taping of a 1995 episode that never aired.
Amedure's family alleges the show tricked a mentally troubled Schmitz into appearing on an episode, then humiliated him by letting Amedure reveal his crush on Schmitz. Schmitz has said he is heterosexual.
On the witness stand yesterday, Jones bristled at claims by Amedure family attorney Geoffrey Fieger that she ridiculed Schmitz before a studio audience in pursuit of ratings and ad revenue.
"It's not my intent to embarrass the guests," Jones testified, appearing more confident and assertive than when she took the stand during Schmitz's 1996 murder trial. She is not being sued.
As for the show's revenue and ratings, Jones testified: "That's not what I'm thinking about when I'm taping the show."
She said Schmitz "didn't seem to be embarrassed to me" after hearing Amedure describe his sexual fantasy involving Schmitz.
When asked whether she would find such fantasies offensive, she countered that "it could be exciting."
Earlier yesterday, a counselor who treats former talk show guests testified "The Jenny Jones Show" refused his services for a prescreening before Schmitz and Amedure appeared.
Schmitz was known to have been depressed and had attempted suicide four times since 1989.
Fieger asked if Schmitz was identifiable as a person "you would want to screen out" as a potential guest. Huysman replied: "Clearly. There was nothing ambivalent about it."
Given Schmitz's mental history, Huysman said: "I don't think he should have been on the air."
04-13-99
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