This was aired on TV in 1989. And... perhaps equally disturbing, if not more, was the media response to it:

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/06/a...-protests.html

Winfrey Show Evokes Protests

Hundreds of television viewers and the leaders of several Jewish and civilliberties
organizations have protested allegations on a popular talk show this
week that some Jews practice ritual killing of children.

The allegations were made by a guest using the pseudonym Rachel on ''The
Oprah Winfrey Show,'' the fifth most widely viewed syndicated talk show in the
country.

During the program, broadcast Monday, Ms. Winfrey introduced the guest as
someone who was undergoing long-term psychiatric treatment for multiple
personality disorder. The woman told Ms. Winfrey that she had witnessed the
ritual sacrifice of Jewish children and had been a victim of ritualistic abuse. The
guest also said of such practices: ''There's other Jewish families across the
country. It's not just my family.'' The assertions were made during a program that
focused on the cult murders of at least 13 people whose bodies were found last
month near Matamoros, Mexico.

The woman's comments provoked hundreds of angry phone calls and letters
to Jewish and civil liberties groups, spokesmen for the groups said in interviews
yesterday. They said viewers also contended that Ms. Winfrey did not challenge
the woman's statements sufficiently. Inflaming Prejudices

''We have grave concern about both the lack of judgment and the insensitive
manipulation of this woman, who is clearly mentally ill, in a manner which can
only inflame the basest prejudices of ignorant people,'' said Rabbi David
Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in
Washington.

Jeffrey Jacobs, the chief operating officer of Ms. Winfrey's production company,
Harpo Productions Inc., denied that Ms. Winfrey had acted irresponsibly in
3 broadcasting the interview since she had emphasized on the show that the guest
spoke only for herself. He added that Ms. Winfrey and her producers would meet
with representatives of the Jewish and civil liberties groups next week in Chicago,
where the show is taped.

Mr. Jacobs said the sole purpose of the program was to call attention to what
happened in Mexico. ''Oprah pointed out that this is one particular person talking
about her particular situation,'' he said, ''and she was identified at the top of the
show as being mentally disturbed.'' Assertions Were Unexpected

''We are aware that the show has struck a nerve,'' Mr. Jacobs said. ''Under no
circumstances do we believe there was any attempt to tie what this woman said
she witnessed to the Jewish religion.'' Ms. Winfrey was traveling yesterday, Mr.
Jacobs said, and was not available to comment.

A spokeswoman for the program, Christine Tardio, said yesterday that the
producers were satisfied that the guest's claim that she had been a victim of abuse
was true. But Ms. Tardio said that she could not ascertain whether the producers
of the show had verified that the guest was Jewish. Ms. Tardio also said that no
one could have predicted what other assertions the guest would make on the
show.

Early in the interview Ms. Winfrey said, ''This is the first time I heard of any
Jewish people sacrificing babies, but anyway - so you witnessed the sacrifice?''
The woman responded: ''Right. When I was very young, I was forced to
participate in that, and which I had to sacrifice an infant.''

The guest was repeatedly identified by Ms. Winfrey as being Jewish. At one
point, the woman asserted that ritual sacrifices occurred in other Jewish families
around the country, that they were known to the police and that such sacrifices
had taken place in her own family since the 1700's. During the interview, Ms.
Winfrey said, ''I want to make it very clear that this is one Jewish person, so don't
go around now, saying to people, you know, 'Those Jewish people, they're
worshipping. . . .' This is just one person.''

But many viewers felt that the guest made unchallenged assertions of a link
between Judaism and ritual sacrifice. Freedom and Responsibility
Jeffrey P. Sinensky, director of the civil rights division of the AntiDefamation
League of B'nai B'rith, called the program ''potentially devastating''
and said his group, which fights anti-Semitism and racism, had received
hundreds of calls. The show is seen in 7,680,000 homes around the country,
according to the A. C. Nielsen Company.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sinensky wrote to Debra DiMaio, the executive producer of
''The Oprah Winfrey Show,'' and said his organization strenuously objected to the
program. He said his letter challenged the appropriateness of the participation of
a mentally disturbed person. ''Many people view such a program and may walk
away from the show reinforcing negative stereotypes,'' he said.

Arthur J. Kropp, the president of People for the American Way, a civil
liberties group, said the board of his organization had discussed the show. ''We're
concerned about free expression issues,'' Mr. Kropp said in an interview
yesterday. ''I think what happened here demonstrates how the freedom has to be
married to responsibility. There's been a lot of concern about so-called trash TV. I
think this demonstrates why there's some concern. When these programs get into
these issues, they've got be very careful. Oprah was the one who introduced the
religion. I don't think she introduced it to convey any correlation between the
woman's Jewishness and what she saw, but nevertheless she did do it and that
was careless. I don't question her motive. They weren't prepared enough.''