New doc trailer reveals death threats, drug rumors around ‘Barney & Friends’
two-part documentary about the darkness surrounding the legendary kid’s show “Barney & Friends.”Friendly faces like Bill Nye and Al Roker are interviewed for “I Love You, You Hate Me,” but so are former actors David Joyner and Bob West — who both donned the purple dinosaur suit during the show’s run from 1992 to 2010.They both provide not-so-jovial recollections about their time as Barney — West even alleging that his entire family received death threats.“They were violent and explicit, death and dismemberment of my family,” he recalls on top of video of Barney stuffed animals being lit on fire. “They were gonna come and find me, and they were going to kill me.”Another interview subject talked about some of the “rumors” he heard about the costumed character, including that he hid “dugs in his tail.”The trailer ends with a woman saying, “I don’t think you could ever think somebody would go and shoot someone.”This could relate to “Barney” founder Sheryl Leach’s son, Patrick Kearns Leach, who was charged with one count each of assault with a firearm and shooting for allegedly shooting his neighbor multiple times after an argument in 2013.