Jeanette Settembre
It’s the court of ‘ma — grandma.
Sarah Rose, the 26-year-old granddaughter of Judge Judy Sheindlin, is taking on a bigger role on her famous granny’s TV show, “Judy Justice.”
“I’m another truth meter – not that she needs it,” Rose told The Post.
The program’s third season premieres Monday on Amazon Freevee and Prime Video, and it finds Rose, a newly minted lawyer, clerking for 81-year-old Sheindlin and helping her navigate emoji evidence and Zillenial slang, such as “love bombing.”
“Young people might lose interest in her show, or her as a judge, if she’s unable to relate to or understand them,” Rose said.
“The underlying nuances of emojis have been a fun one. She has a really hard time with the laughing-crying face emoji – I try to explain to her that it means someone said something funny, that they’re not crying,” she continued. “She’s like ‘okay whatever.’ I’ve gotten her to use a few emojis in her off time now.”
At one point in the new season, Rose eloquently explains to Sheindlin what “love bombing” is after a plaintiff uses the term to describe her narcissistic ex’s behavior. “[It’s] when your partner shows you affection or gifts in the first two or three weeks [but has ulterior motives],” she says.
Sheindlin is thrilled to be working with Rose.
“This smart, sassy, young woman is the perfect law clerk for me. That she is ‘easy on the eyes’ is a bonus,” she told The Post. “Sarah helps make the ‘Judy Justice’ adventure even more special.”
Rose got her diploma from New York Law School in 2022, the third generation in her family to do so.
“One of my most cherished moments was handing Sarah her law degree,” Sheindlin said of Rose graduating from her alma mater.
Growing up, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the words “Double Jeopardy,” at the dinner table. Rose’s father and Sheindlin’s son is Adam Levy, the former Putnam County District Attorney.
“A cross examination was basically my whole upbringing. My childhood was one big cross examination,” Rose said. “Now that I know how to do it back, they don’t like it as much.”
As a kid, she recalls seeing her grandmother and her primetime show “Judge Judy” on practically every small screen she encountered.
“We’d be at the nail salon, or in the doctor’s office and she’d be on the TV. You’d walk into a deli and you get a sandwich and you see her on TV. When we saw her out in public [on TV] it was a reminder that maybe we owed her a call or a visit,” Rose said.
Despite Sheindlin’s stardom, Rose said she was “well sheltered” from Hollywood. She didn’t understand the reach of her grandmother’s fame until she was 10 years old.
“I remember meeting Miley Cyrus in the height of her ‘Hannah Montana’ era. They were filming on the same set or close by that day and my grandmother mentioned in passing that I was a big fan and if she could stop by the dressing room to do a quick picture,” Rose recalled.
“For me that was a big deal. The fact that Miley Cyrus was willing to meet my grandmother to do a little meet and greet for me was like, ‘oh my gosh. My grandmother must be a big deal.’ To us, she was just nana.”
At its height, “Judge Judy,” which premiered in 1996, was the No. 1 program in first-run syndication, averaging 10 million daily viewers.
In 2015, Sheindlin was named the longest-serving judge in courtroom programming history, setting the Guinness World Record.
In 2019, she won the Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The award show’s former executive producer David Michaels praised her for “propelling the genre to new heights.”
Sheindlin left daytime TV for streaming in 2021, joining Amazon’s ad-backed Freevee to star in “Judy Justice” where it became the No. 1 original show on the platform.
In 2023, she debuted another show, “Tribunal Justice,” which features son Levy.
“If you told me when I was the D.A. of Putnam County and Sarah was growing up that we both would be on TV one day, I would have thought you were nuts,” Levy, who is now one of three judges on “Tribunal Justice,” told The Post. “Mom is a force of nature.”
Rose relishes her grandmother’s mentorship, particularly how unfiltered she is.
“[She says] what needs to be said without being fearful of cancel culture. We’re losing that today,” the proud granddaughter said. “People are so scared of the perception of themselves as opposed to the bigger picture. She’s more of a big picture gal.”
Sheindlin, who earlier this month endorsed Nikki Haley for president, has helped Rose to be more outspoken and less worried about what some might think of her.
“Sometimes I’ll have a little one liner or quick thing like, ‘I hated that guy. He was such a jerk. He had no idea what he was even talking about and [grandma is] like, ‘You should say that because that’s probably what a lot of people are thinking,” she said. “If that means I have to give up a little bit about how people view me, and I’m a little bit quick-tongued, then that’s ok.”
Rose passed the bar exam in October 2022, the same day that Sheindlin turned 80.
“I got in my car in my pajamas with my slippers on, drove up the road to my grandmother’s and ran into her house and told her I passed. She had planned a huge 80th birthday celebration at her house. It felt like a great celebration of the passing,” she said.
While she can’t disclose the new cases featured on Season 3, she helps choose the ones with the most impact.
“I’m really looking for those cases where you can tell the plaintiffs are at their wits end – they’ve tried so hard – whether that’s [paying] rent, a car they made payments on and the person pulled the rug out form under them and never gave them the title. Things like that where you can tell someone was so clearly wronged and was trying to do the right thing,” she said.
“I’m really looking for the ones where people are trying to get the help that they deserve.”
Outside the courtroom, Rose said seeing fans flock to her grandmother on the street never gets old.
“I’ve been with her when women – young or older – have said, ‘You are the reason I’m in law school. I wrote my entire entrance essay on you and why you inspired me to go to law school,” she said.
“I think that’s huge.”
Photographer: Roger Kisby; Stylist: Star Burleigh; Stylist Assistant: Amana-Re Brown; Makeup: Michelle Carriker; Hair: Patricia Lansingh; Location: The Kingsley House, LA
This post was originally posted by NYPost
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