Miss Cleo

Miss Cleo
Born Youree Dell Harris
(1962-08-12) August 12, 1962
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality American
Other names LaShawnda Williams, Corvette Mama, Elenore St. Julian, Desiree Canterlaw, Janet Snyder, Maria Delcampo, Christina Garcia, Cleomili Harris, Youree Perris
Known for Phone/TV psychic/900 number employee

Youree Dell Harris (born August 12, 1962),[1] better known as Miss Cleo, is an American who describes herself as a psychic and shaman, and who achieved fame as a spokeswoman for a psychic pay-per-call service from 1997 to 2003.

Harris has used various aliases, including LaShawnda Williams, Corvette Mama, Elenore St. Julian, Desiree Canterlaw, Janet Snyder, Maria Delcampo, Christina Garcia, Cleomili Harris and Youree Perris.[2]

Early life and career

In 1996, in Seattle, Washington, Harris and her partner opened a production company which produced several of her plays.[2] She acted in her first project, an autobiographical play entitled Women Only: A Celebration of Love, Life and Healing.

Her last project, Supper Club Cafe, was not successful, and she "left town with a trail of debts and broken promises" according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.[2] Some of the cast of her productions claimed that they were never paid, and that Harris "told her cast members she had bone cancer" and "her medical costs would prevent her from paying people immediately", but she wrote each actor and crew member a letter telling him or her how much money she owed them.[2]

Psychic Readers Network

In the late 1990s, Harris began to work for the Psychic Readers Network under the name Cleo. She appeared as a television infomercial psychic in which she claimed she was from Jamaica.

The Psychic Readers Network is said to have coined the title "Miss Cleo" and sent unsolicited emails,[3] some of which stated, "[Miss Cleo has] been authorized to issue you a Special Tarot Reading!... it is vital that you call immediately!" Charges of deceptive advertising and of fraud on the part of the Psychic Readers Network began to surface around this time.[4]

In 2001, Access Resource Services doing business as Psychic Readers Network was sued in various lawsuits brought by (among others) Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Florida, and the Federal Communications Commission, although reports later said that "many customers were satisfied with the service".[5]

In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission charged the company's owners and Harris' promoters, Steven Feder and Peter Stotz, with deceptive advertising, billing and collection practices; Harris was not indicted.[6] Her promoters agreed to settle for a fraction of the amount they took in.[7] It emerged that Harris was actually born in Los Angeles, and that her parents were U.S. citizens.[5]

Subsequent career

Harris voiced the character Auntie Poulet in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.[8][9]

In 2003, the New York Daily News reported that TV music network Fuse had signed Harris as a spokeswoman.[10] In early 2005, Harris was reportedly appearing on television as Miss Cleo in advertisements for a used car dealership in Florida, according to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.[11]

In 2014, using the name Cleomili Harris, she spoke about her experiences in the documentary Hotline.

Personal life

She is a lesbian.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Miss Cleo's A Valley Girl". The Smoking Gun . March 14, 2002. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Parvaz, D. (March 2, 2002). "Miss Cleo left a trail of deception in Seattle". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  3. ↑ "Phone psychics' scam follows script". Erie Times-News. 1 December 2001. p. 2.
  4. ↑ Lithwick, Dahlia. With Psychics Like These …: The lawsuits pile up for Miss Cleo. Slate, March 26, 2002. Accessed 04 August 2015.
  5. 1 2 Hood, James (2002-11-14). "Miss Cleo Settles for $500 Million". News (Washington, DC: ConsumerAffairs.com Inc). Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  6. ↑ FTC Charges "Miss Cleo" Promoters with Deceptive Advertising, Billing and Collection Practices
  7. ↑ Christopher, Kevin (March–April 2003). "'Miss Cleo' settles with the Federal Trade Commission – News and Comment" 27 (2). Skeptical Inquirer. p. 8. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  8. ↑ Clary, Mike (26 August 2015). "Psychic network accuses cereal maker of infringing on 'Miss Cleo' copyright". SunSentinel. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Reed, Chris (12 September 2014). "The 11 Best GTA Supporting Characters". Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Rush and Molloy. Schumer $andbagging friends of AG?. New York Daily News, November 30, 2003. Accessed 08 January 2008. "New music network Fuse recently signed up as spokeswomen 1) televangelist Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Mrs. Jim Bakker), 2) cable porn princess Robin Byrd and 3) Youree Harris (the actress who played purported psychic "Miss Cleo" before the Federal Trade Commission shut down her $4.95-a-minute phone line)."
  11. ↑ Staff writer. Drink and Scoot!. Broward-Palm Beach New Times, February 5, 2005. Accessed 08 January 2008. "The Turbaned One is back. With her crystal ball and snake-oil smile, Miss Cleo (real name: Youree Harris) showed up recently on television ads for Plantation-based Uncle Mel's Used Cars."
  12. ↑ Greg Hernandez (September 25, 2006). "Miss Cleo Comes Out". The Advocate. Retrieved March 27, 2016.

External links

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