Oprah Winfrey. Judge Judy. Mr. Feeny. These are just some of the people who made after-school TV absolutely essential viewing. Whether you just had a crushing altercation with your middle-school crush or generally felt overwhelmed by adolescence, you could switch to a basic cable channel after 3 p.m. and — rest assured — one of these personalities would be there, giving life advice — or, in Judy's case, just screaming.
For the past 22 years on air, Judge Judy has rocked the same iconic look: brown hair with caramel highlights styled into a short bob. But no more. This spring, Judge Judy, much like Bella Hadid and Camila Mendes, decided to embrace a brand-new look.
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Gone is that mop of brown hair. On Monday's episode, the 76-year-old judge (whose real name is Judy Sheindlin) appeared with a... wait for it... ponytail. Her hair was pulled back with a barrette, and viewers, as you can imagine, were shook to their core.
I. Am. Shook.
— ? Koko ✊✊?✊?? (@Kokomothegreat) April 22, 2019
Judy Judy has a new do and I dont know how I feel about it. pic.twitter.com/dv1H18flzk
Breaking: @JudgeJudy changed her hairstyle! To a little ponytail! (Also, I may or may not dvr Judge Judy.) pic.twitter.com/KrviiIQb5J
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) April 23, 2019
How are we feeling about Judge Judy's new ponytail????? pic.twitter.com/1spwoJirRp
— ?Dave Scheidt ? (@DaveScheidt) April 23, 2019
I just want to take a minute and appreciate judge judy’s new hairstyle pic.twitter.com/hhpzp3M1Nk
— squilliam fancyson (@jisonjoseph) April 23, 2019
Why has she gone and done this now, more than two decades into her TV career? Judge Judy has yet to make an official statement, but as one Twitter user noted, it does look an awful lot like Ruth Bader Ginsburg's go-to 'do.
I think it looks great. Very RBG! ?? #JudgeJudy pic.twitter.com/igCclqRtR7
— Jeffrey Luscombe (@JeffreyLuscombe) April 22, 2019
Is this a case of icon recognizing icon? Legend recognizing legend?
After doing some digging, we did find that this style isn't exactly new. While this episode just caught people's attention yesterday, Judy's bailiff, Petri Hawkins Byrd, posted an Instagram of Judy's new hair back in February with the caption, "Change is good."
And we agree that change looks good on Judge Judy. Regardless of inspiration, we have to say that Judy is right on-trend with that stylish barrette. And for someone as iconic as Judy, we wouldn't expect anything less.