Exploring The Enigma Of Miss Cleo: The Psychic Who Captivated Late-Night TV

Late-night television in the late 1990s brought us a familiar face: Miss Cleo, the charismatic psychic known for her memorable catchphrase, “Call me now!” She became a cultural icon, captivating viewers with her vibrant personality and supposed supernatural abilities. The recent documentary “Call Me Miss Cleo,” streaming on HBO Max, delves into her life, exploring whether she was truly a gifted “voodoo priestess” or simply a clever performer. With a mix of nostalgia and intrigue, the film reveals the complexities of her persona and the impact she had on the psychic industry.

The documentary presents a rich tapestry of perspectives, from those who adored her to those who felt deceived by her. It examines the duality of Miss Cleo's existence—was she a victim of exploitation or a mastermind of deception? The film features interviews with friends, former clients, and colleagues who each have their interpretations of her legacy, adding layers to the narrative of this enigmatic figure.

As viewers revisit the mythos surrounding Miss Cleo, they are invited to question the nature of belief and the allure of the supernatural. This exploration goes beyond mere entertainment; it probes deeper into societal perceptions of psychics and the lengths to which people will go in search of guidance. Ultimately, the documentary serves as a poignant reminder of how quickly fame can rise and fall, leaving behind a complicated legacy.

Biography of Miss Cleo

Table of Contents

• Where Miss Cleo Came From
• How the Psychic Readers Network Worked
• Why She Was So Convincing
• Thousands Complained About the Companies
• She Was an Activist After the Scandal

Where Miss Cleo Came From

The self-proclaimed voodoo priestess died in 2016 after battling colon cancer, but it is her voice that guides the documentary, which doesn’t hold back on her over-the-top TV appearances for her pay-per-call service. But her early life and sketchy origins remain an enigma.

According to former colleagues at the Langston Hughes Theatre in Seattle, Harris was a playwright and performer who went by the name Ree Perris in the late 1990s. They said Miss Cleo was a character born out of a play called “For Women Only” that Harris was working on at the time for the troupe. Harris, who as far as they knew did not have a Jamaican accent, was set to play the character.

However, Harris told a different story in her “Hotline” interview: “I absolutely commune and chat with those on the other side — some call them dead, some call them spirits — but absolutely with the energy and vibrations with those that crossed over. ... more broader than a medium, for me, it’s a broader belief system.”

How the Psychic Readers Network Worked

Psychic hotlines were the anchor of the 1-900 number industry. Harris said her sister suggested she work for the nascent Psychic Readers Network, as it would be a source of income that would work with her schedule. Harris thought the commercials were silly but gave the hotline a shot in the late ‘90s.

“When they approached me about first being a spokesperson, my first initial response was, ‘I have a reputation to maintain,’” Harris said in the 2012 interview, arguing that she didn’t think the network took the practice seriously. But she also recognized that it was a business.

According to the documentary, after she read her tarot cards on camera, the network allegedly got the greatest number of calls it had in its history. From there, she catapulted to fame, doing live readings with callers who could not believe how accurate she was.

Why She Was So Convincing

Harris’ dynamic energy and undeniable charisma certainly made her entertaining. And then there was that infamous, parody-ready accent.

“She was quick on the draw. She would take these sort of ordinary questions and launch into sort of very funny, very unexpected sort of spiels about whatever the topic at hand was,” said Bennett Madison, another former PRN phone psychic interviewed in the documentary. “I don’t really believe in, like, psychics or magic. But I do think that there are certain people who are good at being able to talk to someone and sort of understand who they are in an instinctive way and be able to give advice in a way that feels magical.”

“It was the best Insta[gram] Live you could’ve had in 1997. It was so good, so good,” Raven-Symoné said. “When I saw Miss Cleo, I did believe.”

Thousands Complained About the Companies

Those familiar with the ubiquity of the late-night infomercials are likely also familiar with their disclaimers, which passed them off as “for entertainment only,” a catch-all phrase that did little to protect PRN.

In 2002, the FTC filed fraud and unfair telemarketing charges against Miss Cleo’s two Florida backers, Access Resource Services Inc. and Psychic Readers Network Inc. The companies were accused of defrauding customers after thousands of complaints were made by callers, former employees, parents of underage kids and people who didn’t call the hotline but received collection letters anyway.

Although the growing lawsuits predated Harris’ time at the network, they gained traction when attorney Dave Aronberg, the former Florida assistant attorney general who started the inquiry into PRN, included Miss Cleo as a named party in one investigation. He did so by obtaining a collection letter that had allegedly been signed “Cleo”; however, Harris claimed that it was a forgery and that she didn’t find out about the alleged signature on copies of the letter until she was deposed.

She Was an Activist After the Scandal

Friends, godsons, lovers and a former roommate offered illumination on what Harris was like after the investigation.

“How they portrayed Cleo destroyed her,” said her former makeup artist AnnDee Rucker. “They took her identity. They took her name. They sensationalized her. They villainized her. Of course, that had an effect on her. How could it not?”

She lived for several years as a recluse before Rucker and other friends tracked her down and encouraged her to start joining them for Sunday barbecues. She was the “cornerstone” of those events, her godson Dylan Rucker said.