The Secret World of Oprah Winfrey

[onehandle]

Kitty Kelley has turned her unauthorized-biography attentions to Oprah. And found a secretive and controlling figure who will not give her own mother her phone number.

snip...

Kelley's book promises to reveal further details. But Winfrey, says Kelley, is far more restrictive than Frank Sinatra — another notorious control-freak who Kelley profiled. So it's less Frank Sinatra Has a Cold than Oprah Winfrey Has a Pie. (Actually two pecan pies, delivered to her hotel room and immediately consumed.)

Her mother, Vernita Lee, who lives in Milwaukee, is provided with a car and a driver is taken care of financially "but," says Kelley, "she can't reach Oprah. Oprah will not give her mother her telephone number." Her mother has to call her assistant like everyone else.

Winfrey, Kelley reports, has a heated dog kennel. And some expectedly serious clout in the media. "In promoting this book," she explains, "we have already been told by Barbara Walters's producer, No, you cannot be on "The View," I cannot disrupt my relationship with Oprah. Joy Behar, the same thing. Charlie Rose; Larry King said, I will not do it, it might upset Oprah. Even David Letterman."

http://gawker.com/5514088/the-secret-world-of-oprah-winfrey

[joeybee12]

1. Oprah pretty much owns the media...

...and while she's not a bad person, such control and influence is never good.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Whatever happened to 'Steadman'? Are they still a couple?

[saracat]

3. She isn't a particularly good person either. I lost all respect for her

when she ran seminars for poor women allegedly teaching them how to create wealth and charged them a small fortune to attend. She really is only interested in "helping" herself. Even her african schools were PR.

[movonne]

4. None of us are perfect....

[hfojvt]

5. Hmm. I wonder if a publisher would give me an advance

to do an unauthorized biography of Kitty Kelley. There might be some dirt there, and turnabout is fair play, no?

Hey Oprah, have your assistant call me.

[truedelphi]

24. Sort of my thoughts also.

I am not the world's biggest Oprah fan, but who in the world is a slimier person and less factual writer than Kitty Kelly?

[UTUSN]

40. Could you list the "less factual" details she has published? Really. n/t

[UTUSN]

6. Her books on Nancy RAYGUN, SINATRA, and (lesser) the B.F.E.E. are great.

To those who will predictably look down their nose at "gossip": The dictionary definition has NOTHING to do with UN-truth. It has to do with personal, scandalous, private, secret things that the subjects might be embarrassed to have revealed.

I've read her Nancy RAYGUN, SINATRA, and the BUSH family books. Did not read the Jackie O and royal family books, the former because all the dirt had made it from her book out into the public (where I am) so as to make going back to the book anti-climactic, and I'm just not interested in the royals.

I thought she was VERY soft on the BUSH family, from real intimidation by them? And when the Today show had her on for two days, LAUER was SCATHING at her the first day. I called Today long distance and actually got to talk to a producer and told her what you know about me, that they were being totally craven to treat KELLEY that way, etc. etc. The second day LAUER was apologetic, admitting he had been too rough. Her old friend Larry KING, who for years had been only too happy to hear dirt about everybody else, also wouldn't host her for the BUSH book.

Now, Oprah doesn't interest me. I don't think I've ever seen more than a minute or two of her show. And it is totally craven (again. can't think of a worse word) for all these "free-thinking" Libs to blacklist KELLEY. (Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters/View, & Joy BEHAR are all blacklisting her.)

The opening of her Nancy book is classic: (something like) "Nothing in her (amended) birth certificate is true---not her name, her father's name, her date of birth--nothing." As much as I detested the RAYGUNs back then, I bite my tongue these days. She and Ron Jr have been plugging the dike against the RAYGUN idolaters: Nancy by vetoing the a-holes who want to replace FDR with RAYGUN on the dime, etc.

[UTUSN]

10. Oh, look, "Today" and O'LOOFAH are not blackballing her

**********QUOTE********

http://www.wowowow.com/pov/margo-howard-will-anyone-publicize-kitty-kelley-oprah-biography-463688

The Blackballing of Kitty Kelley's Oprah Bio

Why Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters all said no.

(by Margo Howard)

.... Let’s put it this way: Frank Sinatra, when she was writing her book on him, was so, um … displeased that he threatened to have her killed. And she’s never been sued successfully. For her biography about Oprah, she did 850 interviews. Eight hundred and fifty! (In my news days if I contacted four people I thought I had really worked my tail off.) Her work is that of a hybrid researcher/historian, and whatever she writes you can take to the bank. She is in no way an academic, which is probably the reason her books sell in the millions. ....

... Walters told Random House publicity she didn’t want to "upset" Oprah. Letterman said he didn’t want to "disrupt" his détente with Oprah. And ABC, whose name might as well now stand for "All ‘Bout Cowards," made an across-the-board decision that Kelley’s book would be boycotted by all ABC shows. Even second-tier people like Joy Behar followed suit. And Rachael Ray! A cooking show, no less. ....

I guess everybody has hopes that Oprah might one day smile on them. To their credit, the top show for people flogging books, "The Today Show," will be Kitty’s first publicity stop when the book is released. Bill O’Reilly will be the second. I find all this really interesting. What is it, I wonder, that has major television people so afraid of Oprah? It is a question whose answer I look forward to finding in Kelley’s book. I will get back to you when I’ve read it.



Editor’s Note: A longtime journalist, Margo Howard went into the family business (her mother was the fabled Ann Landers) in the 1990s as Dear Prudence. Her broad experience and understanding of human nature provide answers for the troubled — and entertainment for everyone else. Margo’s advice column, Dear Margo, appears twice a week — on Thursdays and Fridays — on wowOwow.com.


********UNQUOTE********

[peacetalksforall]

13. Do you think Larry King, Charlie Rose, and Barbara Walters are libs?

[UTUSN]

39. Libertine?!1 n/t

[99 Percent Sure]

16. +1. I read the Royals book too, and it was as well-researched

as the others. I'm a bibliophile but every Kitty Kelley book I've owned has been pilfered-- Nancy Reagan, the Bush Family Dynasty, and the Royals. I don't loan books, so they were lifted by someone or someones.

She made the Bushes so upset with her revelations that they made her persona non grata for years after Shrub was appointed president, even having her removed from the Smithsonian. She revealed quite a bit about Neil and Sharon's divorce and Pappy and Mammy George Washington Bush's callous behavior toward Sharon when Neil up and left her for one of Mammy Bush's assistants who was also married at the time. I believe she was the first to reveal that the Bush cousins in Connecticut couldn't stand Shrub.

BTW, as an aside, reading Neil's depo transcripts taken during the divorce is a blast, especially when Sharon's attorney states that Neil contracted STDs during his orgiastic romps in Asia, and Neil interrupts to say that he only contracted ONE STD. The attorney asks which one and he says herpes. I kid you not. Google and read them,

She also had a great photo in Nancy's book of Nancy toppling off a piano bench as she sat next to Vladimir Horowitz while he played the WH. His expression was priceless. All you see is NR's thick ankles in the air as she toppled off the bench. Heh.

KK gets a bad rap from people based on what they've heard, but she delves deep and comes up with some interesting stuff.

[BlueIris]

23. I actually thought the book on the Bushes was great. Sure, it stayed away from most conspiracy

and serious political talk, yet I felt she strived to make sure everything she did put in was as close to true as an unauthorized biographer can get.

[Warpy]

7. I imagine Mom has given out her private number before

which is why Mom doesn't have it now. Were I in a similar position, I'd probably do the same thing with the assistant instructed to put Mom through, no questions asked. I just wouldn't want to be deluged with calls from Mom's friends, knowing those friends might be conned into giving that number to people I really wouldn't want to talk to, ever.

Kelly likes to try to put negative slant on things that might be relatively innocent. I noticed she reacted with outrage when she found out Sinatra called Johnny Mathis "The African Queen." I did club and concert lighting and I know everybody in the business called him that. Big woop.

I'll skip this one like I've skipped the other ones, only reading them when I've been stuck someplace boring with nothing else to read, the case with the Sinatra bio.

(most people who love their four footed family members would love to be able to afford to heat Rover's house in the winter)

[rcrush]

8. In other words she is super rich.

[Stevenmarc]

9. What the hell is the big deal, her mother has the assistants number it's not like she cut her off

[peacetalksforall]

11. I don't like Kitty Kelly's methods. Perhaps the View, etc. feel the same.

[UTUSN]

12. Her "methods"? What, interviewing 830 sources? n/t

[peacetalksforall]

15. Her method of concentrating on dirt, the scandalous, the erring ways of human..

[UTUSN]

38. Oops, there goes Plutarch down like a rubber tree plant!1 (tune of SINATRA's High Hopes)

Plus, what's the distinction that makes The View so superior compared to KELLEY?!1

[TheDebbieDee]

56. Yeah, but who wants to read about goody two-shoes people?

Those folks are boring!

[KittyWampus]

14. there was a time in my life I wouldn't communicate with my mother either. Except for emergencies.

[Cleita]

19. Me too. I didn't have a home phone deliberately. She had to call me at work.

It was easier that way. I cared about her but she was very disruptive in my life so I had to keep her at a reasonable distance.

[slampoet]

17. My prediction on the Kitty Kelly book....it will talk about the same things people were speculating

about five years back,

Oprah playing both sides of the political as well as sexuality divide.

Gayle Vs. Steadman, Is Steadman just a beard?

Steadman's relationship with Armstrong Williams, was it just business? Was GOP money a factor and how much?

Armstrong Williams' relationship with other closeted gay republicans who took money from the Bush admin to make Bush look good. (there are like a dozen of these guys and they deserve a book of their own since they are only distantly related to Oprah through Steadman.)

Oprah's failures gone over just to add filler or show how she overcomes adversity (girls school in Africa, Beloved was a bomb, yawn....etc.)


Have i left anything out?

[tango-tee]

26. Who is Gayle?

I hardly ever watch TV anyway, and living in Europe haven't seen Oprah's show for about 15 years. The name Steadman rings a bell (fiance?), but I have no idea who Gayle is.

[UTUSN]

41. Iow, all these topics were in GOSSIP tabloids all these years. Not all are created equal but

the good ones are better journalists than so-called "journalists" Tweety, the late G.E.RUSSERT, David GREGORY, et al.

[Cleita]

18. I hope her next book is on Sarah Palin and that she gets it out before

the 2012 primaries.

[Blue_In_AK]

28. That would be a barn-burner.

There are people here just itching to "tell all." The Mat-Su Valley would be fertile ground in which Kitty Kelley could dig. She could cultivate a big fat book, just like those big fat vegetables they grow out there.

[Cleita]

31. Really? Maybe some Alaskans should write Kitty and suggest it to her and

tell her that there is plenty of information to be had from those "itching to tell". I'm sure, unlike Oprah, who probably got signed agreements from everyone in contact with her not to disclose anything about her, Sarah hasn't gotten anything legal to make it difficult. Honestly, write Kitty Kelley and suggest it to her. Authors can generally be reached through their agents or publishers.

[Initech]

29. I would go out of my way to get a signed copy of that.

[UTUSN]

42. Actually, Levi's revelations to Vanity Fair got the ball rolling, are TRUE, and he got blasted the

same way KELLEY gets blasted.

* Quitter & spouse did no parenting, didn't dress or feed the kids for school.

* Quitter doesn't hunt, doesn't even shoot a weapon, much less dress the carcasses.

* Quitter talked up adopting the grandkid.

* Quitter griped about how she could make way more cash outside of public office.

* Quitter


But the point is Levi and KELLEY get BLASTED!1

[Silent3]

20. For me, it not "The Secret World", it's "The Secret" that's the problem

That she hawks bullshit like that book bothers me quite a bit.

[jennied]

21. It's no secret that Oprah likes an extremely private life...

The most we hear about her private life are just her weight issues. But she doesn't really talk about her love with Steadman or her parents. I don't blame her much, the press can be so nosy. She's one of the most famous women on Earth, I give her props for the way she keeps her private life out of the hands of the media. And I bet anything that she doesn't have direct contact with her mother is so she can have even more privacy. Not just privacy for herself, but her parents too.

[Cleita]

22. I've never been a real big fan of Oprah's. I think I sensed the

phony part. I hated that she endorsed Arnold S. for California governor something I will never forgive her for. However, I do appreciate the work she has done occasionally in improving race relations. This is something she does well.

[truedelphi]

25. Same here. n/t

[PatSeg]

33. She's real Buddy-buddy with Maria

She's not a very politically savvy person and it bothered me when she endorsed Obama. I didn't see her as an asset at all.

[Cleita]

34. I never considered Maria the sharpest pencil in the box.

If she had any brains, she would have seen that Arnold was marrying her for her political connections and now she's stuck with him, being a Catholic Kennedy woman and all.

[PatSeg]

37. I can't imagine what she was attracted to

in Arnold. He is such an unappealing man in every respect. What an odd couple they are.

I agree, she doesn't come across as very bright.

[UTUSN]

43. Maria has said that the rich dudes she grew up with were wimpy, washed-out types, and she

wanted the RAW, MASCULINE, IMMIGRANT, and rough-around-the-corners energy of Ahhhnuld. She skips the part where he hustled rich old men when he was poor in London and stuff. And she named KERRY as one of the richie riches she called wimpy.

[PatSeg]

46. Yeah, I can see that I guess

but damn, she could have done better than him.

I didn't know that about hustling rich old men in London, but I find it very believable.

[Initech]

27. "Why couldn't they join a mainstream religion, like Oprahism or voodoo?"

[Zomby Woof]

30. I have despised that narcissist for years

[JVS]

32. I hope this book gets endorsed by Oprah's book club!

[girl gone mad]

35. This only makes me like Oprah.

She's living every abused little girl's dream. Good for her.

[PatSeg]

36. I used to listen to Christine Craft on the radio

and she painted a very negative picture of Oprah. Craft had appeared on Oprah's show many years ago and she said that she was a tyrant to her employees. Oprah is all about Oprah. Even her public generosity is to promote Oprah.

[UTUSN]

44. Dayum, we got tossed to "Entertainment"?!1 Just the Nancy RAYGUN book alone

would win KELLEY a political journo prize!1 Not to mention, SINATRA, the B.F.E.E., Jackie O., and even the royals.


If anybody has spoken truth to power, SHE has. She picks on the BIG boys and girls, unlike O'LOOFAH and the rest of the wingnut yakkers who pick on THE LITTLE GUYS and SUPPORT the fatcats.

[Jade Fox]

45. As a daughter I can say...

there are a lot of reasons not to give Mom your phone number.

As for Oprah being a control freak, could she have done what she's done any other way?

[freeplessinseattle]

47. a heated dog kennel? big deal, now I respect her more

If it wasn't heated then she'd be criticized for making her dog stay chilly when to keep him comfortable would cost a pittance.

[UTUSN]

48. My e-mail to the Today Show about her upcoming appearances

Today is somewhat to be praised for continuing to host Kitty KELLEY in her roll-out of her new book on Oprah, in the context that almost all of the other venues--ABC, Letterman, The View, Joy BEHAR, Larry King, and Charlie ROSE---are refusing to do so out of deference to Oprah.

KELLEY has had the courage beyond the cliche meaning of "speaking truth to power": Her subjects are the big boys and girls--Nancy Reagan; Jackie; Sinatra; the royals. Some blowhards out there, like Bill O'Reilly claim to speak for the little guy, but in reality they always take the side of the big guys.

Now, when Ms KELLEY appeared for two days on the Today Show with her book on the Bush family, Matt LAUER was incredibly hostile to her on the first day. I myself called long distance from (far away) and got to speak to a producer and made the following points:

1) The word "gossip" is stigmatized, yet the dictionary definition contains NO connotation of "UN-truth."

2) Ms KELLEY customarily interviews something like 800 sources for each of her books and has never been sued successfully for misrepresentations.

3) In the case of the Bush book, I believe that all concerned---her publisher, the media venues---were shamefully intimidated by the powers controlled by the Bush family. Old "friends" like Larry King, who had been all too eager to host her with her previous books refused to do so with THAT book. This is cravenness.

I sincerely hope that Ms KELLEY will be treated fairly. This is not to be confused with a request that she be treated PREFERENTIALLY. She can handle herself on a level playing field. Or, actually, she can do so even when the field is NOT level, but she DESERVES fairness.

[UTUSN]

49. My e-ltr to ABC & The View about Bahbwah WAHwah's blackballing

The hypocrisy of Barbara WALTERS and ABC regarding the blackballing of Kitty KELLEY (the Oprah book)

Ms WALTERS is probably single-handedly responsible for turning "news" into entertainment, personality-driven, and gossip, yet she is playing holier-than-thou about Ms KELLEY's books, and especially this recent one on Oprah. Ms WALTERS and her employees DAILY talk about other people's lives, and it is NOT any different from Ms KELLEY's books.

Ms WALTERs' career, until her recent book, consisted of digging into other people's private lives WHILE always keeping her own above-it-all. I suspect that her personal revelations, which AFFECTED OTHERS, were the result that her publicity was winding down with her career and this was the last gasp to gain another round of attention.

First, the word "gossip" has NO dictionary meaning that equates with "UN-truth." 2nd, Ms KELLEY interviews 800+ sources for each book and has never been successfully sued.

The cravenness of the media towards Ms KELLEY began with her book on the BUSH family, with cowardly kow-towing to the intimidation from that notoriously mafia-style BUSH machine.

I will be switching from GMA/ABC to Today/NBC, although LAUER was hostile towards Ms KELLEY in his previous interview on the BUSH book, since at least NBC is not blackballing.

[mackerel]

50. I'm not a Kitty Kelly fan or an Oprah fan.

Kitty Kelly can stand by her sources and thoroughly researches her work. It's all a matter of perspective though and you can put any slant on anything you like. There's more than one side to any story (Roshomon.)

I will say that the thing about Oprah's mother is very complex. I would do the same to my mother if she was anything like Oprah's mother. Oprah herself has said on a couple of occasions that she doesn't fault her mother for who she is but has said that her mother has no maternal instincts. It has been well documented over the years that Oprah's mother has a hard time with finances and has socialization issues. It is my understanding that she doesn't have a good grasp of what is appropriate behavior in a mother/daughter relationship. In other words there are mental health issues involved.

[CoffeeCat]

57. Oprah was also sexually abused...

...by an uncle. I wonder if that uncle was her mother's brother? If so,
the mother was molested by her brother, then Oprah's own mother allowed
this uncle to have access to Oprah.

I can understand the difficult relationship, if this is indeed the case. If it
is the case, Oprah has the right to kick her mother to the curb. If she hasn't
due to emotional blackmail from her mom--that would explain some of Oprah's
weight issues.

[UTUSN]

51. O.K., here is the Gawker link for excerpts. & the t.v. interviews have been underwhelming

I missed the Today appearance yesterday, but saw KELLEY today. It wasn't Matt or Meredith doing it, it was the 2nd stringer. Then they kicked her to Hoda and Kathy Lee in the 4th hour, where it was all yuk-yuk, "Please DON'T do a book on ME!1" Haha. Like, Kathy Lee is BIG enough for a KELLEY book.

Actually, not even Quitter PALIN is big enough for a KELLEY book. Levi JOHNSON, much maligned, got the ball rolling in his interview with Vanity Fair, where he spoke the TRUTHS: That Quitter was constantly talking about how much money she was losing by being in public office, how much money she could make outside, and the first figures are out there now, that she has made 100 times her governor's salary in the past eight months. So the REST of what he said is, that she didn't do any parenting, no dressing/feeding the kids before school; that she and Tawd talked about divorce; that she broached adopting Levi's kid to avoid the bad publicity; that she griped about having a Downs child; that she never shot a weapon or hunted.

So, the excerpts are in the link: http://gawker.com/5516272/excerpts-from-the-biography-that-oprah-doesnt-want-you-to-read . No need for me to copy them here.

These are not the "nasty" things the interviews have led us to expect. They describe scary, nekkid POWER.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

52. They don't like Kitty because she tells the truth.

Truth is an absolute defense against slander.

She does meticulous research, and that's why nobody has successfully sued her. She does her research and has good lawyers.

Same thing with Michael Moore. He said he gets the lawyers who represent The New Yorker magazine to go over his stuff with a fine toothed comb to make sure it's all true. He hasn't been sued successfully either.

That's why a lot of people HATE both Kitty Kelley and Michael Moore.

I guess most people don't understand that if it's true and the reporter has done everything right, no matter how unflattering it is, it stands as truth. I went to law school. Slander and libel are torts that you can sue for in civil court.

In this society so many people are celebrity worshipers that I am not surprised that people really hate Kitty Kelley for shattering their illusions.

I remember watching Matt Lauer attack her when her biography about Sinatra came out. She just smiled, threw it back at him and kept saying, "I love his music".

[UTUSN]

53. Wow, I didn't know LAUER had gunned for her so far back as SINATRA. Iow he's a lackey

not only for the B.F.E.E. but is ANYbody's punk.

[UTUSN]

54. Some tidbits (I don't have time for LINKS, o.k.?!1) - She & Diane SAWYER had a thing going on

Or, rather, it was embarrassing to Ms SAWYER that Ms O was sending her humongous bouquets PLUS 1-carat diamond TOE-rings.

[Captain Hilts]

55. ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! and

?!?!?!?!?!

[WinterParkDonkey]

58. I have read all.....

her books. They are very-well researched and hold up to the most rigorous fact-checking.