You get a controversy and you get a controversy! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most heated controversies that have dogged media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, throughout her extensive career.
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00:00Well, everybody's going to want to know how you lost the weight, so you might as well
00:04tell them."
00:05Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most heated controversies
00:09that have dogged media mogul Oprah Winfrey throughout her extensive career.
00:14"'I know that this is really volatile ground I'm walking on, and we all can feel it in
00:19the room.'"
00:2010.
00:21Maui Relief Controversy with Dwayne Johnson
00:25In August 2023, deadly wildfires ravaged the island of Maui in Hawaii, causing billions
00:31in damage and sadly claiming over 100 lives.
00:34In response, Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson launched the People's Fund of Maui to raise
00:39money for the victims.
00:40"'In this time of need, you want to take care of the greatest need of the people, and that's
00:45giving them money.'"
00:46They announced the fund on social media, kicking it off with $10 million of their own money,
00:50but were met with intense criticism.
00:52Many wondered why Winfrey, a billionaire, and Johnson, a multi-millionaire, were asking
00:57everyday people to donate instead of digging deeper into their own pockets.
01:01"'Commenters say that the payer could donate all the money needed and make it all back
01:05within a year.'"
01:06Some suggested they direct their appeals towards their wealthy friends instead.
01:10Despite the backlash, Winfrey stood by the fund, calling it a, quote, "'really strong
01:13idea,' although she admitted feeling vilified online.
01:17"'In the beginning, so many people were calling asking, where do we give our money to, where
01:22So I thought, I'm going to give people a place to live, we're going to create something.
01:26And I still think it's a really strong idea.'"
01:299.
01:30The Olsen Twins Interview
01:31"'What size are you, by the way?'
01:32"'Size?
01:33I'm not sure.
01:34I see girls and, you know.'"
01:35Back in 2004, famous twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey
01:45Show.
01:46Rumors had been circulating that Mary-Kate was dealing with an eating disorder, and Winfrey
01:49brought up the topic during the interview.
01:51Ashley quickly dismissed these rumors, however, stating that they weren't concerned with tabloid
01:56gossip.
01:57"'People are going to write what they want to write.
01:58We try not to read the good or the bad because it just kind of comes with the territory.'"
02:03Undeterred, Winfrey probed even further, asking an inappropriate question about their weight
02:09that left the teenage sisters visibly uncomfortable.
02:11Though there was little public reaction at the time, the interview stirred controversy
02:15when it resurfaced in 2021.
02:18Winfrey used slammed Winfrey for the intrusive questions, noting that the twins were minors
02:22at the time, and Mary-Kate had to seek treatment later that year for an eating disorder.
02:26"'She needs to think about herself and take care of herself right now until, you know,
02:30before she could go ahead and, you know, please other people.'"
02:348.
02:35Tom Cruise Jumps on the Couch
02:37There have hardly been public declarations of love as exuberant as this one.
02:41"'Something happened to you!'
02:43"'I'm in love.'"
02:45In 2005, Hollywood action star Tom Cruise appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote
02:51his film, War of the Worlds.
02:52The discussion swiftly shifted from the movie to Cruise's personal life and his recent relationship
02:58with actress Katie Holmes.
03:00As Cruise expressed his affection for Holmes, he began displaying a series of strange behaviors,
03:05including the now-famous moment when he jumped onto the studio couch.
03:08"'We've never seen you behave this way before.'
03:10"'I know.
03:11Have you ever felt this way before?'
03:15It was so bizarre that the typically composed Winfrey appeared to be at a loss for words.
03:20The clip immediately went viral at a time when video-sharing platforms on the internet
03:24were still in their infancy.
03:26"'I've never seen this!'
03:27"'I know!'
03:28"'I've never seen this!'
03:29"'And I thought, you know what?
03:30I thought...'
03:31"'What happened to you?'
03:32"'I have to tell you.
03:33No, when you meet someone that's like, you go, huh?''
03:357.
03:36Oprah Says No to Sarah Palin
03:38Oprah Winfrey is undeniably influential, a fact that was demonstrated in the 2008 presidential
03:44election.
03:45Her endorsement of Barack Obama during the Democratic primaries played a significant
03:49role in his eventual win.
03:51"'I feel compelled to stand up and to speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision
03:59for America.'"
04:00Despite her clear preference, Winfrey decided not to invite any candidate to her show during
04:05the campaigns.
04:06This became a hot topic in September 2008, when The Drudge Report alleged there were
04:11behind-the-scenes drama about inviting Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
04:17"'That put me in a really difficult position.
04:19We received some of the worst hate mail of my career.'"
04:22Winfrey refuted these claims, but stood firm on her decision to not interview Palin until
04:27after the elections, which she eventually did.
04:30This move drew criticism from some fans who accused her of bias, pointing out that she
04:34hosted Obama twice on her show before he announced his candidacy.
04:38"'I did not have Obama on after he announced the presidency.
04:42I'd had the then-Senator Obama on for his book, Audacity of Hope, but that was before
04:50he had announced that he was running for presidency.'"
04:526.
04:53Michael Jackson interview
04:54Michael Jackson's personal life was the subject of countless bizarre rumors, yet for years,
04:58he avoided addressing them.
05:00That changed in 1993.
05:01"'When we agreed to do this interview, you said that you would be willing to talk to
05:06me about everything, and we haven't discussed one single question that's going to be asked
05:11here tonight.
05:12Just wanted to make that clear."
05:13"'That's very true.'"
05:14That February, Jackson sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey that attracted over 60
05:18million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched TV interview in the country's
05:23history.
05:24Winfrey's questions covered topics like whether Jackson slept in an oxygen chamber, bought
05:28the remains of Elephant Man, and if he bleached his skin because he didn't like being black.
05:32"'How much plastic surgery have you had?'
05:34"'Very, very little.
05:35You can count them on two fingers.'"
05:38Perhaps the most controversial moment came when Winfrey inquired if Jackson was still
05:42a virgin.
05:43This interview offered a rare glimpse into Jackson's private world, and was one of the
05:46last times audiences saw him before the sexual assault allegations emerged.
05:51"'That's something that's private.
05:52I mean, you know, shouldn't be spoken about openly.
05:56You can call me old-fashioned if you want, but, you know, to me that's very personal.
06:02So you're not going to answer it?'
06:03"'I'm embarrassed.'"
06:045.
06:05The Wagon of Fat
06:07Oprah Winfrey has long been open about her weight loss journey.
06:10"'I've been in the struggle, I've been in the storm of losing the weight, gaining it
06:16back, losing the weight, gaining it back.'"
06:18In 1988, she created one of the most unforgettable moments on her show.
06:22Winfrey unveiled her new slim figure by whipping off an oversized coat and wheeling out a wagon
06:28holding 67 pounds of animal fat, the amount she had lost in less than five months.
06:34She achieved this by running 6.5 miles a day and relying solely on a liquid diet.
06:39"'You can do with the help of your family doctor, and if you can believe in yourself
06:44and believe that this is the most important thing in your life, as Scott said to us earlier,
06:49you can conquer it.'"
06:50The episode drew huge attention, earning the highest ratings in the show's history.
06:55However, years later, Winfrey expressed regret about it, stating that it was simply an ego
06:59trip and admitting that she eventually regained all of the weight.
07:03"'What the doctor said, that you are always going to put it back on, and it's like holding
07:09your breath underwater and trying not to rise.
07:13You're always going to rise.'"
07:154.
07:16Oprah Confronts James Fry
07:18"'The expectations and rules and conventions of the literary community or the publishing
07:23community or society in general mean absolutely nothing to me."
07:27Author James Fry released his debut novel, A Million Little Pieces, in April 2003.
07:33Chronicling his intense experience with substance use disorder and rehabilitation, the book
07:37initially received mixed reviews.
07:39It wasn't until September 2005, when Oprah selected A Million Little Pieces for her book
07:44club, that it became a cultural phenomenon, topping the New York Times Best Seller list
07:49for 15 consecutive weeks.
07:51But controversy soon struck.
07:54An investigative website alleged that Fry had fabricated major details in the book.
07:58"'In this corner there's Oprah.
07:59In this corner we've got James Fry to defend himself.
08:02I don't know why he's there, but he's there trying to defend himself.
08:06Good luck James Fry.'"
08:07Oprah initially stood by Fry, but later invited him on her show, where she grilled him about
08:12the allegations before a disappointed audience.
08:15Fry ultimately owned up to it, attributing his dishonesty to the same demons that drove
08:20him to drugs.
08:21"'Our readers really remembered this as a significant moment because I don't think they'd
08:24ever seen Oprah so angry.
08:26She really felt betrayed and she let it show.'"
08:283.
08:29Oprah interviews a gang of skinheads
08:31"'What I thought I had been doing was allowing people to see how violent, how abusive, how
08:41not smart they were, that I was actually doing the opposite, that I was giving that energy
08:46a forum.'"
08:47Oprah's 25-year run, The Oprah Winfrey Show, featured an incredible variety of guests,
08:52from the most beloved celebrities to a gang of skinheads from the KKK.
08:56In the late 1980s, Winfrey invited a group of Klan members, hoping to change their minds
09:01about black people.
09:02This apparently backfired, as the men used her highly popular show as a platform to spout
09:07their reprehensible ideologies.
09:09"'I have to agree with this woman down here who said, I have never seen such, or felt
09:15such evilness and such hatred in all of my life.'"
09:19Realizing this mistake, Oprah decided to steer clear of the sensational tabloid topics that
09:24were prevalent in trash TV shows of that era.
09:27This marked a turning point for the show, which then began to focus on more uplifting,
09:31educational, and philanthropic themes.
09:34"'When you know better, you do better, even if you gotta learn it from a skinhead.'"
09:372.
09:38The World Speaks Out on Iraq
09:40"'It was just over 90 minutes beyond President Bush's deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave
09:47Iraq that U.S. warships and planes, there were F-117 stealth bombers involved, launched
09:54the opening salvo of Operation Iraqi Freedom.'"
09:56In 2003, the U.S.-led decision to invade Iraq sparked huge protests around the world and
10:02sharply divided public opinion.
10:04One of its prominent critics was Oprah Winfrey, who aired a series of controversial anti-war
10:09episodes between November 2002 and March 2003.
10:14The most notable of these was a two-day special, The World Speaks Out on Iraq, featuring highly
10:19influential figures like Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II, who spoke against the war.
10:25"'People aren't stupid.
10:26They could see that what George W. Bush was about wasn't human rights, it was about controlling
10:30the oil.
10:31They didn't think that killing tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people in the
10:35Middle East was worth that.'"
10:37Anti-war advocates praised the show, while people who supported the invasion heavily
10:41lambasted it.
10:42The first part of the special was notably interrupted by a White House press conference,
10:46which many saw as an intentional attempt by the Bush administration to silence Winfrey's
10:51anti-war message.
10:52"'The game is over.
10:56All the world can rise to this moment.
10:59The community of free nations can show that it is strong and confident and determined
11:04to keep the peace.'"
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11:211.
11:22Oprah vs. Cattle Ranchers
11:23"'We pretty much support the cattlemen and we wanted to show our support in some way,
11:29so we decided to come up with this little button to show that not everybody thinks Oprah
11:35Winfrey has got this right.'"
11:37In 1996, Oprah Winfrey welcomed Howard Lyman, a former cattle rancher, turned animal rights
11:43activist onto her show.
11:45The discussion that day revolved around a controversial practice in the beef industry
11:49called rendering, in which animal tissues are ground up to make cattle feed.
11:54As this occurred during the Mad Cow Panic, Lyman's revelations prompted Winfrey to declare
11:59that she would stop eating hamburgers.
12:01"'If Jerry Springer had talked about, you know, mad cow disease, it would have zero
12:06impact.
12:07Rosie O'Donnell, you know, Geraldo, etc., limited impact.
12:12When Oprah said it, it had a big impact.'"
12:14Right after the episode aired, beef prices plummeted for almost two weeks, hitting a
12:19ten-year low.
12:20As a result, a group of Texas cattle ranchers sued Winfrey for $10.3 million, alleging that
12:26her remarks caused undue harm to the entire beef industry.
12:30Following a highly publicized trial in Texas, the jury found Winfrey not liable for defamation.
12:36"'In Winfrey's depositions, she talks about everything from her dietary habits to the
12:40responsibility of telling the truth on her program.'"
12:43What other controversial Oprah moments did not make our list?
12:46Let us know in the comments below.
12:48I am ready for this conversation.
12:50With me are top experts, and this audience has some interesting questions and opinions,
12:55and I know many of you watching have on your mind as well."
12:59Do you agree with our picks?
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