Enough is enough with Harpo Productions: Oprah has gone too far

By Chase Miller
Collegian Staff
February 21, 2007

Have you ever sat, enjoying a live broadcast of some nationally syndicated show, reached down under you chair at the instruction of the host and pulled a Pontiac out from underneath? You might have if you’ve been part of the studio audience at The Oprah Winfrey Show, the most successful talk show in history hosted by verifiable American royalty.

Winfrey’s charity extends outside the confines of her Chicago studio, too. Oprah’s Angel Network has raised around $51 million for non-profit and other charitable organizations since its start in 1998, according to the fund’s Web site. She herself is acclaimed as the 32nd most philanthropic person in the world, giving $10 million of relief for Katrina victims and $7 million to put 100 young African-American men through college, according to Oprah’s Angel Network. Finally, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls opened in January of this year in South Africa, drawing praise from multitudes of time-honored dignitaries, the most magnanimous of whom being Nelson Mandela himself.

This misspelled namesake of the biblical figure Orpah is truly a saint walking amongst us. She is a model to all those who, like her, emerged from a troubled past to become a self-made success. All that being said, however, is anyone else just a little—well, scared of Winfrey? With a following like hers, hovering around 14 million viewers a show and a magazine bouncing between top 10 and 20 lists for circulation volume, Winfrey has the power to change a lot of minds – and ruin a lot of lives.

Hey, did you get your hands on James Frey’s new book? You know, the one he’s writing on napkins from Wendy’s while he works the drive-thru? Since his henpecked appearance on Oprah in which she could be heard saying, “the lie of it. That’s a lie. It’s not an idea, James. That’s a lie,” and “I think you presented a false person.” First by his literary manager, Kassie Evashevski, then by Riverhead Publishers out of a two-book deal from which he was contracted to a stipend seven figures, according to Publisher’s Weekly. When the dust cleared and Winfrey’s reputation emerged unscathed, we learned lesson number one: don’t lie to Winfrey, or else.

On to lesson number two: rules are made to be broken for Winfrey. In September 2005, the manager of the Paris luxury store Hermes appeared on Oprah to issue his sincerest apologies to the billionaire beauty and her chorus of angry soccer moms. His sin: not letting Winfrey in 15 minutes after the store’s closing. She chided him duly and belittled him to pea-size with the egging of her audience, according to a Sept. 21, 2005 Boston Globe article. The article described Winfrey being told by a security guard the store was closing and to come back the next day.

Winfrey claimed it to be her “crash moment.” She alleged the security guard denied her entry because of the store’s recent problems with North Africans, according to The New York Post. A Hermes spokeswoman vehemently denied even a fleeting mention of race, saying, “There was never any discussion of North Africans,” she said. “The story is not true.”

I’m not saying she’s a bad person, just that her influence can get a little scary at times. The events depicted shoud be enough for Barack Obama to take warning. The Democratic senator from Illinois initially promised to announce his bid for presidency on Oprah. However, his actual announcement took place at the Old State Capital Building in Springfield, Ill. Close enough, right?

Not for some people. In fact, many are calling for Obama to apologize to Winfrey or incur her wrath. One of these instigators is the Minnesota Star Tribune, saying, “If you sit on the couch of the mother of all talk show hosts and make a commitment, shouldn’t you follow through to prove you are a man of your word and not just another politician?” Let’s just hope for the country’s sake that this time Winfrey sticks to helping people and leaves the smiting to Donald Trump. Until then, I’m hoping this article is published anonymously.

millerc10@lasalle.edu