Shannon Price is trying to set the record straight. The ex-wife of ‘80s TV icon Gary Coleman recently agreed to take a lie detector test in an effort to debunk rumors that she played a role in his tragic 2010 death.
In the July 10 series premiere of A&E’s new show Lie Detector: Truth or Deception, Price opens up about her volatile relationship with Coleman and his controversial death before sitting down for a polygraph test administered by ex-FBI agent George Olivo. She also speaks about stunning comments she made in the 2024 Peacock documentary Gary.
In that film, Price admitted to striking Coleman during their relationship. But in Lie Detector, she tells a different tale, claiming that she was pressured by the film’s producers to say she hit Coleman.
Shannon Price said she slapped Gary Coleman ‘a couple of times’
In Gary, Price discussed her relationship with Coleman, whom she married in 2007. She confessed that there were a few times when their relationship got violent.
“It was only a couple of times as far as anything physical,” she said. “I mean, I slapped him a couple of times. I mean, nothing major, nothing like ’red flag.’ Like, people smack each other. They hit each other. People do it. … If you deny it, you’re crazy.”
Price’s comments only added to the speculation that she might have played a role in Coleman’s untimely death. The Diff’rent Strokes actor sustained a serious head injury as the result of a fall in his Utah home; Price had him taken off life support a few days later. A police investigation determined that his death was an accident.
In Lie Detector, Olivo confronts Price about having previously said she hit Coleman.
“That was a really hard documentary,” she replies. “Because they pressured me into saying that to make me out to be the bad guy.”
She elaborates on her interview in Gary in a conversation with Lie Detector host Tony Harris.
“I was so pressured into saying certain things,” she tells him. “They just kept forcing me to say this and this and this and this. And I said finally, ‘OK. You know what? I’ll say it.’ I thought they had my best interest [in mind]. I never laid my hands on him at all … I’m telling you the truth now.”
Coleman’s friend, Dion Mial, was a creative consultant on Gary. He also appears in Lie Detector and dismissed Price’s claims she was pressured to lie.
“That’s unbelievable,” he says with a laugh. “It’s unbelievable.”
Polygraph test proves Shannon Price lied about ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ star’s death, expert says
Price claims she lied about getting violent with Coleman in the Peacock documentary. But she may have told an even bigger lie in the A&E show. She failed the polygraph test when questioned about her involvement in his fatal fall.
“You failed the exam regarding Gary’s fall,” Olivo tells her.
“That’s false,” she replies.
“I know where I’m at. I’m at peace,” Price adds. “There is a reason I am not in prison … it’s because [police] did a thorough investigation.”
But Olivo remains convinced that Price is not being completely honest.
“It all boils down to this. It was either a mistake or a plan,” he says. “Were you trying to cover up a tragic mistake? Or did you have a plan to kill Gary Coleman?”
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