Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey and her long-term love Stedman Graham

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey on 29 January 1954) is a African American talk show host, actress, and media entrepreneur. In 2006, she stated that her staff (which she can presumably select herself) has "all these white people" and that there is only one black on the staff.

Life

Television Show

In 1983, Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk-show, AM Chicago. The first episode aired on 2 January 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest rated talk show in Chicago. It was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, expanded to a full hour, and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986.

Barack Obama

Winfrey has exerted political influence, endorsing presidential candidate and magical negro Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. This is the first time she has publicly made such an endorsement. Winfrey held a fundraiser for Obama on September 8, 2007 at her Santa Barbara, CA estate. In December 2007, Winfrey joined Obama for a series of rallies in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The Columbia, South Carolina event on December 9, 2007 drew a crowd of nearly 30,000, the largest for any political event of 2007.

Animal rights activism

Winfrey was named as the '2008 Person of the Year' by animal-rights group "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" (PETA). According to PETA, Winfrey uses her fame and listening audience to help the less fortunate, including animals. PETA praised Winfrey for using her talk show to uncover horrific cases of cruelty to animals in puppy mills and on factory farms, and Winfrey even used the show to highlight the cruelty-free vegan diet that she tried.

Hawaii

In late August [2023], Johnson and Oprah Winfrey launched the People’s Fund of Maui, a fund intended to put money directly into the hands of adults displaced by the deadly wildfires that had ripped through Lahaina and Kula in Maui, Hawaii, earlier that month. After announcing the fund, Johnson and Winfrey drew criticism from some people on social media who questioned why they were not contributing more of their personal wealth. [...] Many people took to social media to criticize Winfrey and Johnson’s joint appeal for donations, with one person on TikTok calling their video “tone deaf.” Some commenters questioned why Johnson and Winfrey, as wealthy celebrities, were asking others to give instead of donating more themselves. “We can’t afford it, but you can!” one person commented on their video on TikTok. “You guys make more in a day than I’ll make in my lifetime,” another person wrote. “I believe in you.” “Skipping the electric bill for groceries this week,” another commenter said. “But you two got this.” Others questioned why the appeal for donations was being directed at the general public rather than their fellow stars with more financial means. “This is disgusting. Ask other celebrities,” one person commented on Tiktok, “not people who are living paycheck to paycheck.” “Hey guys, I think you posted this to social media by mistake. This needs to be sent directly to your friends,” another person wrote.

Weight-loss drug

Oprah Winfrey faced backlash for using weight-loss medication, despite her long standing role as an ambassador for Weight Watchers. The renowned US talk show host revealed in an interview that she relies on an unnamed drug to assist in weight management, attributing her transformed physique to the combination of the medication and adopting a healthier lifestyle.

Quotes

• Is Oprah Winfrey racist? Clearly. Her billionaire’s privilege has allowed her mind to turn down whatever street that serves her ego. There may have been a time in her life when being a black woman held her back some, but that time is long passed, and that illustrates the fact that she must not have been held back much, either. Despite being super rich, no human being is entitled to everything they want, and when she doesn’t get it, she cries “waaaayciiiism.” Of course, most news outlets are going to gush over how woke they are and favor Oprah’s side of the story, and of course because she is a media giant (in more ways than one) the victims of her privilege are themselves kowtowing to her (think when you were in school and fake apologized in front of the principal so you didn’t get suspended), but really it’s just a case of everyone has to follow the same rules. Oprah is a classic example of a narcissist, and quite possibly, an oligarch. – William Benis, 2018

• I personally have never met the woman, but what I have read about her, isn't flattering. It's been reported, she is very rude, and more than a little entitled. I know her interview, with Harry, and his wife, was harshly critiqued by real journalists, as a bit of fluff, and full of lies. Again, I have never met the woman, but I wouldn't want to. She speaks out against sexual assault, and yet she was on friendly terms with Epstein, and Weinstein, two of the biggest perverts, in Hollywood. She knew all about their dirty dealings with women, and underage girls, yet chose to look away. I know millions of people think she is a Saint, but obviously I don't. My opinion only. – Grace Claire, author, 2020

External links

• Fans are lashing out at Oprah Winfrey yet again after she called their criticism of her Maui fundraiser with Dwayne Johnson 'vitriol', 2023

Encyclopedias

• Encyclopedia Britannica: Oprah Winfrey
• Encyclopedia.com: Oprah Winfrey
• Encyclopedia.com: Winfrey, Oprah (1954—)