A woman is clapping back at Dr. Phil, accusing the famed psychologist and talk show host of victim blaming her after she shared her traumatizing story on his show.
Angelique Cruz, identifies herself as a "mom, wife, student" as well as a "trauma survivor" in her profile biography on TikTok, where she uses the handle @angeliquemonet0.
As revealed in a series of videos, the "trauma" Cruz survived was that at 18-years-old, she was a near victim of fetal abduction.
@angeliquemonet0 Part 1 #mystory #beniceplease #survivor #ITriedItIPrimedIt #trustyourgut #victim #imready #shamingiswrong #storytime #instincts #ptsd #anxiety
Cruz revealed that when she was 9-months pregnant, a friend came to her house in an attempt to murder her and perform a cesarian section on her baby.
Cruz revealed she had met this woman, later identified as Kassandra, through mutual friends.
Cruz and Kassandra initially bonded over both being pregnant and having recently turned 18-years old, and would stay in touch on social media.
But this friendship came to a crashing end after Kassandra paid a visit to Cruz's home, under the auspices of delivering "baby presents."
Cruz admitted something seemed off about Kassandra and she likely suffered from a number of mental health issues.
But Cruz attributed her behavior to just "needing attention."
But Cruz's suspicions only grew after a series of unsettling events, which began when the two of them were alone in Cruz's bedroom.
“She said she had gifts she wanted to give me. So we went into a room, my room. She had me turn around, close my eyes, and told me to count to 3."
“And right before she got to 3, I had a really really strong feeling that something was going to happen to me.”
After turning around before the count of three, Cruz said she caught Kassandra off-guard and noticed her stash something back into her bag.
In spite of her growing concern that Kassandra was going to harm her, Cruz revealed she "acted stupid" and went along with her friend's game for some time.
Even as things only became more bizarre and unsettling.
First, Kassandra pretended that her water broke, and asked Cruz to accompany her to the hospital, but later claimed she was mistaken and had simply wet her pants when Cruz began to call her mother and share where she was heading.
But after Kassandra lit her closet on fire with a teacup candle, Cruz was finally able to call 9-11.
As Kassandra was being taken away by the paramedics, claiming to have gone into labor, Cruz encouraged the officers on the scene to let her see if Kassandra’s bag did, in fact, contain the presents Kassandra claimed to have brought with her.
Upon opening the bag, Cruz discovered "two large butcher knives" as well as supplies to care for a newborn infant.
Cruz claimed Kassandra confessed to the police her intention that night was to murder Cruz and attempt a c-section to kidnap her baby.
But while Kassandra was initially charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary and attempted kidnapping, she was able to negotiate a plea bargain.
As a result, Kassandra was sentenced to a mental institution, from where she has since been released.
Viewers of Cruz's video couldn't believe what she went through, particularly at such a young age.
@angeliquemonet0/TikTok
@angeliquemonet0/TikTok
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@angeliquemonet0/TikTok
Much less sympathetic towards Cruz and all she went through was Dr. Phil.
While Cruz appeared on his show under the belief she was invited to share her story and raise awareness of fetal abduction, she found herself in for an unpleasant surprise.
This was evidenced by a video of her appearance on Dr. Phil, where she called out the talk show host for "victim blaming" her.
@angeliquemonet0 Visit TikTok to discover videos!
After scolding Cruz for giving Kassandra the "benefit of the doubt", Dr. Phil then pulled up a large monitor listing all of Cruz's "ignored instincts."
Cruz revealed in the video's overlay she was "blindsided" by this, as well as by the accusatory questions Dr. Phil had in store for her.
"I was asked to come to the show to spread awareness, let other mothers/mothers-to-be know that things like this happen."
"None of this was discussed."
"I was told I would be able to tell my story and that was it."
Cruz also used the overlay to express her humiliation, saying the only reason she laughed was to remain as composed as she could under the circumstances.
"I'm so annoyed and embarrassed at this point."
"You'll hear me laugh, but I can promise you that laugh is out of anger because all I want to do is scream, but I can't because I'm on national television."
The overlay changed as Dr. Phil continued to berate her for her choices, where she called him out for not being able to understand what it was like in the moment.
"No one will ever be able to understand what it's like to be in this situation until you are in it."
Cruz also revealed moments where she stood up for herself, as well as when she broke into tears from embarrassment, were edited from the eventual broadcast.
Cruz then used the overlay to defend her decisions at the time, reminding viewers she was only 18 years old.
"I was a senior in high school."
"I didn't know women actually did this to other women."
"I didn't know how cruel the world was."
Cruz went on to say that Dr. Phil made her feel "More alone than [she] had ever felt before" and her appearance on his show only increased her PTSD.
The video ended as Dr. Phil continued to mock Cruz's decision making, showing her embarrassed expression as the studio audience could be heard laughing at her.
TikToker's were horrified by the way Dr. Phil treated Cruz, particularly his lack of sensitivity for how young she was at the time.
@angeliquemonet0/TikTok
@angeliquemonet0/TikTok
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@angeliquemonet0/TikTok
But Cruz later made it clear after going through everything she is able to bounce back from any experience, no matter how degrading or humiliating.
@angeliquemonet0 I went numb and became a whole different person from that day forward #trauma#momsoftiktok#arizona
Cruz shared in the 11-second video's overlay:
"You think you can hurt me?"
"I cried like this when I pulled the butcher knives out of my friend's bag in front of the police."
"She was going to use them on me to cut my baby from my stomach when I was 9-months pregnant."
As she demonstrated in the video, "crying like this" was simply wiping a single tear away from her left eye.
In addition to sharing several other videos documenting her experience on her TikTok page, Cruz has also used her page to promote awareness of fetal abduction.
