Every time a new episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show airs in 2010, we will blog along with it. If you have plenty of time, read the long version. If you are pressed for time, read the “What we learned today” summary. If you are really, really pressed for time, read the Twitter-sized summary.

Archive for category Celebrity

Date: February 24th, 2010
File Under: Betrayal, Celebrity, Family, Marriage, Public Service Announcement, Relationships

Episode 34: Sex, Lies and Scandal

People across the country have been talking for weeks about the guy who took the fall for former senator John Edwards. He lied and said he was the father of John’s love child. Oprah has seen him on 20/20 and on a bunch of other shows, but she still has questions for him. Just in case you have been living under a rock, here’s a quick recap of his story.

Andrew Young was the right-hand man for John Edwards for more than a decade. He was next to the rising star through good times and bad. When tabloid stories broke suggesting that Edwards had fathered a love child with his mistress Rielle Hunter, Young did what most can’t fathom- the married father of three took the bullet for his boss and said the baby was his. In his new book The Politician, Andrew details how he helped his former boss carry on a two-year affair behind his wife’s back, while she battled cancer. It didn’t take long for the story to unravel- the lies, the cover up, and rumors of a sex-tape destroyed the career of the presidential hopeful.

Oprah welcomes Andrew Young  to the studio. Oprah doesn’t normally watch other people’s TV shows, but she was watching the 20/20 piece and yelling at the TV. She thought that Bob Woodruff did a great job, but she wanted Andrew to answer more fully if looking back on this he sees that this was stupid. He says its stupid, immoral, ridiculous. Andrew says that he is scared to death of public speaking so perhaps his emotions didn’t come across. Cheri, his most wonderful wife, and he have lived with this for several years and she stayed with him through all this. Oprah says that is what we really don’t understand. Andrew says John Edwards was more than just his boss. He and his wife had worked with the Edwards’ and become close personal friends. He had volunteered for his Senate campaign in ‘97 and ‘98. And when he first met them, they were the most inspiring people to work for. He loved them. Andrew says he and John grew closer as their friendship evolved and John became like a big brother. They went to basketball games. Oprah says that in the book Andrew says Edwards was like a father to him, and Andrew clarifies that Edwards reminded him of his father.

Andrew’s wife Cheri,  is a pediatric nurse. He says that 10 days after the Iowa caucasus, they had 12 hours before the National Enquirer would release photographs. Oprah backs up a little and says that Andrew had known of, and helped to cover up, the affair since 2006. The National Enquirer was going to reveal the discovery. Edwards called them at Petsmart when they were buying a turtle aquarium. He threw in what you’d expect—he said that the presidency is at stake. He talked off good versus evil, but the closing thing he said was, “Andrew, Elizabeth is about to die.” … He made them all believe that Elizabeth was going to die within a matter of weeks, it was imminenet. What he said was it would be a short term thing so that his wife didn’t die in disgrace, it wasn’t about the presidency. Andrew and Cheri had only 12 hours to make a decision. They made the wrong decision on so many different levels, but they truly believed in John Edwards. Andrew loved him like a big brother and  loved Elizabeth like a big sister. He asks, does that make it right? Absolutely not.

Oprah asks what part of him could make it ok to tell that lie, that’s what she really can’t understand after reading the book and watching the interviews. She finds it to be bigger than taking the fall for John Edwards, it was about deceiving all of America that would vote for him. Oprah asks if a part of Andrew asked if he thought that this was the most crazy thing ever when he got the call. Andrew says he was sitting in a minivan outside of Petsmart looking at Edwards on the cover of Newsweek and it makes the argument about how he could win the presidency,- it was like a surreal bubble that came around him. He knows it doesn’t make sense. There was a part of him that was always on call when John needed help, if he was in hot water. He has records of all the phone calls, after the story was released, within 24-48 hours derogatory things were being said about Andrew by Edwards and the campaign.

When Elizabeth heard of the affair, Edwards said that he slept with Rielle one time, but that Andrew was having an affair. Andrew says that didn’t make any sense as Rielle was traveling with him all the time and he was at home with his family in North Carolina. Elizabeth then became angry with Andrew, as she thought  he was immoral. But, he says, it was more than that, whenever she was suspicious of anything, he had become the one that she had come to blame things on. He was worried- the Edward camp had fired a lot of people. Elizabeth insisted that John fire Andrew,  but John kept him because he was the fall guy. Andrew says that he should have noticed that he was being blamed whenever something was going on. Oprah asks if there were other women and he says there were things that he should have noticed. In the book, which he wrote when his father was dying, he writes no holds barred, warts and all. He speaks of all the ridiculously stupid things that he did to his family, to his wife. He tried to tell the truth about what modern presidential politics are like and how cutthroat it is.

According to Young, Edwards began his affair with Rielle Hunter in 2006, 10 months before he began his campaign. In May 2007, Hunter became pregnant while the campaign was in full swing. Edwards then hatched a plan that Young would claim to be the father. In December the press snapped a photo of a visibly pregnant Hunter and speculated that Edwards was the father. Young released a statement saying that he is the father at Edwards’ request, and he and his family and Rielle Hunter went into hiding at high end homes and hotels bankrolled by two of Edwards supporters.

Oprah says he talks of the comparison of love and devotion for his father and for Edwards, but she is wondering at what point do you feel that you are selling your soul? His Dad was a minister and got Andrew involved in politics- he had an affair of his own that destroyed his career. Obviously Andrew went through a lot with a therapist. Oprah thought that this would mean that he would do the opposite for Edwards. Andrew says it doesn’t make sense, it was as if he was trying to put Humpty Dumpty back on the wall to save his family from what they had gone through. There was a part of him that didn’t want this to happen to Edwards.

Oprah says take politics out of it; If Edwards was just his friend, and was doing something stupid, wouldn’t you just say stop that? Andrew says that most of your friends aren’t some of the most charismatic, powerful people in the world who intimidate you. Edwards was his friend, but also his boss. Oprah asks if they thought that they’d get away with it. Andrew says that they did get away with it that no one in the mainstream press… Oprah interrupts to say that no one in the public believed the story so they didn’t get away with it. The crowd applaud. Andrew asks to finish his sentence- from December to July when he was caught, Edwards led all the polls.  Oprah says that the baby was down the road  when Obama was meeting with Edwards about possibly being the vice president. She says that they all knew this- did they think they’d get away with it? Young says that in Washington, there’s a sense that once someone becomes president they can get away with anything with the billionaire lawyers. They didn’t think it was right but they were so far in. Oprah says it makes her so angry that they would all take the risk that Edwards could become Vice president or Attorney General, it’s not right. Andrew says that they were cut off from their families and were scared to death. Andew says that when he first met the Edwards’, their son had just died. All the things that Edwards wanted to do for poverty and healthcare- Andrew just loved him. He agrees that this means nothing if he lies about the baby and the relationship- what else could he deceive us on? Young says it gets worse- Edwards asked him to steal a diaper so he could prove it wasn’t his child with a DNA test. He kept out of that one. They were also asked to find a doctor who would fake the DNA result, and Edwards offered to sign an affidavit with the National Enquirer to say that he hadn’t done any of this. Oprah says she heard them say that the presidency was at stake, and this is why they did it- why would they want this lying deceiving person to be president when they have his mistress in their house? In December they did believe in him, despite those faults. Oprah apologises that she won’t let him answer the question, she’s just so frustrated. She says sometimes you make a decision, and you’re in the mess, and the mess just gets messier and messier. He says it’s like a rabbit hole- he worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for 8-9 years, so after this he was home with his kids and getting to put them to bed. Oprah says yes, but they were home with the mistress. They go to break.

They show the footage of John Edwards denying that Hunter’s baby is his in an interview on Nightline with Bob Woodruff. He denies that he knows who the baby is, and  says that he would gladly take a paternity test. Edwards says that he doesn’t know if Andrew Young is the father. Oprah shakes her head and says “oh, please”. That was Edwards lying, she says. Cheri, Andrew’s wife is now in the studio. Oprah asks what they thought when they first saw that tape. They watched it together and it sent shivers up their spines. Andrew says he couldn’t lie that good if Cheri caught him drinking a beer in the garage. Edwards makes you believe him even though its all lies. He is sorry for what they did but also sorry for people across the country who gave money they couldn’t afford to the campaign, slept in gyms, and volunteered. A woman in the audience says that she gave $500 to John Edwards and she’d like her money back. The crowd applaud. Oprah says on behalf of all wives, what spirit allowed Cheri to say yes Rielle could move in with them. Cheri says he told me, Edwards wants me to claim the baby.  She looked at him and simply said: “Why in the world would you even tell me about this? You say no. We have done enough.” She wants to let everyone know what they did for that family over the previous 8-9 years. They did everything, they both did. Cheri would cook breakfast. Whatever he wanted, whatever they needed. When they came back from D.C. and didn’t have a car, they used Cheri’s car. She was without a car. Or Andrew was without a car. It was extreme. They never, never said no. Andrew was so valuable to them.

Later that night, Andrew and Cheri had a long conversation and she still wasn’t on board. They had a call with John and Rielle, which Cheri just listened to. John said this was his chance. They’ve worked so hard, he was so close. Then he spoke of Elizabeth, that she was very ill. She was going to pass very soon. He could not, could not let her know this. They had two huge things in their lap- the presidency that he could win, and the family. Oprah interrupts to ask why they wanted him to be president when he was willing to carry on such a deception. Cheri says she didn’t think of that, only of her responsibility. Oprah says it’s every person who donated. Cheri says that the last two years have been hell, and they are paying for the consequences. Oprah asks if they wanted a role for themselves in DC if he became President, because that motivation she could at least understand.  Andrew says he wanted to take the kids and work in different consulates, experience different countries. Cheri says that by this point they had done so much, invested so much, and this was Andrew’s career. He believed in Edwards so much; “America was fooled. We were all fooled”.

Oprah says would they have come clean  if Edwards had said he would take care of them and set them up. Young says that they waited 2 years and that Edwards had promised that this would be a very short term thing. Within 2 weeks of Andrew’s book being published, after 2 years, Edwards announced that he’s the father, signed the custody papers  and goes to see Rielle and so all these things happen as the book comes out. Cheri says that living these lies has been horrific. She was criticized for being happy in an interview and she was just so relieved that the truth was out. The lies that Elizabeth has told about them, mostly Andrew… Oprah asks if they feel that they also betrayed Elizabeth. Cheri says yes, and she’s very sorry that Elizabeth has a terminal illness but the thing that she doesn’t understand as a nurse (Oprah wipes away Cheri’s tears) working with childrens and families with various terminal illnesses- she doesn’t understand Elizabeth because of how she’s treated them. She’s seen interesting things with how she’s treated others, but they’ve always been safe. She doesn’t understand the voicemails – why would Elizabeth, if she knew the truth, why would she target her? And if she thought that Andrew was the father, why did she target her? The voicemails were downright bizarre and threatening. She called and said take care of your concubine… Oprah says that they must understand why Elizabeth is so upset. Andrew tries to interrupt and Cheri stops him and says that he listens to her now, he agrees, the audience laugh. Cheri tried to protect Elizabeth- Oprah asks if she protected her by harboring the mistress of her husband. Cheri says that now they know that they were wrong, wrong, wrong in their decision.  Oprah says that in an interview with her, Elizabeth said that if the baby is or isn’t Johns, it has nothing to do with her, which Oprah thought was interesting. Any wife who has been lied to and deceived knows that- and she and Elizabeth talked about this off-camera- the feeling that everyone else knows but you. Andrew says that it has broken his heart that his best friend lied repeatedly and drove over him with a dump-truck- he can’t fathom what Elizabeth has gone through.They had to step up and take care of their own family. Oprah says she is surprised that Edwards didn’t take better care of them.After the baby was born he didn’t speak to them. They were in California away from their families and support structure.

For 8 months, they moved from house to house with Rielle. They show photos of Rielle very pregnant then with a newborn. Cheri admits that it looks like they were a happy family and they weren’t but they had to make do, for the children. Rielle stayed in one end of the house and they stayed at the other end. Oprah asks if they all got along. After a pause, Andrew chuckles and says no. Cheri says that they were polar opposites. Oprah asks what they were thinking? Andrew says that the baby was born in February and in March the Senator stopped speaking to him. The night the baby was born, Andrew called Edwards and told him to call. Edwards refused. A switch went off for Andrew, when he realised that not only was he disposable, everyone was disposable. On July 22nd,  Edwards called and said he’d been caught, which was eerily like what happened with his father years before. Edwards was crying and distraught, Andrew said Senator please, don’t make a comment until they know what they have. Edwards got caught in the lies and half truths he told Elizabeth. the only person the Woodruff story made sense to was Elizabeth. He told her that Rielle had made him come to the hotel room because Andrew hadn’t paid child support, and that she was going to blackmail him about their one night stand, unless he paid child support. And that is why Elizabeth said why don’t you take care of your concubine on the voicemail says Oprah. Cheri wants to go back to talking about when they were living in California, when they wanted to get out. They didn’t feel that they could, they were controlled by three attorneys and millionaires and billionaires. They lived in California, they were  building a house in North Carolina and didn’t know how the next month would pan out, how they’d pay for the house, where the kids would go to school. They had their health insurance paid for them…

Oprah asks if he was offered a lot of money for the alleged sex tape- Andrew says its not an alleged sex tape, it shows Edwards but not Rielle. They got alot of email offers but never took them up. Oprah asks what the tape shows, Andrew says no comment and Rielle says she’ll speak. Andrew says no and grabs her hand. Oprah says go ahead. Cheri says that Edwards is naked, performing sexual acts and the woman is holding the camera. Oprah thanks her for the information. Oprah asks if they ever thought of selling it- the mean thought may have crossed their minds but they never acted on it. They found it in July 08 and told him in August 08- Oprah says that she would be very nice to anyone with that tape. Andrew says that the Edwards’ had successfully got them kicked out the house they were renting- Oprah says that makes no sense- Cheri says the tape allowed them to get through the last two years of hell. Finally after being controlled by millionaires, Edwards got busted, they got dumped back in North Carolina and their house wasn’t done. This was the worst time for them but they’d found the tape in a bedroom that Rielle had stayed in. Oprah says that Edwards had to be out of his mind to be filmed naked when running for the presidency of the United States.  Andrew thought it was narcissism gone wild. On top of this it was 3 1/2 months before the election  and he was having sex with a visibly pregnant woman while his wife is dying of cancer. They left the tape in Andrew’s house that they were renting with realtors trooping in and out. Cheri says that the tape was her security after the millionaires and billionaires that had been controlling them. Was she going to do anything with it? No, but she had something to prove from what happened. Oprah asks what they learned from this, that there are huge life lessons to be learned from this. Rielle is suing them to return the photos and videos to her, and says that their statement that there is a visibly preganant woman on the video tape is false and her invasion of privacy has been horrifying. Oprah asks for their final thoughts- in the book Andrew speaks of his fathers betrayal and that he tried to make peace through the brother,  father, friend figure- John. His dad taught him that we can make a positive difference from our actions. Andrew was seduced by the politics, power and money when the job with this viable world leader dropped into his lap. The things that matter the most, Andrew says he already has the. The lesson is that most of us have what we want already, money doesn’t change that. It made their marriage stronger. Cheri says that they have always had  a strong love and trust for each other and with this they hit rock bottom and made it through. Now they are closer, the kids are great, she has her husband back and the kids have their daddy back and he listens to her. The book, The Politician, will have you screaming at the pages, according to Oprah. Both John and Elizabeth Edwards have released statements saying that the book contains false allegations and exaggerations. Edwards claims that Andrew Young is motivated by financial gains and media attention. Oprah appreciates that they allowed her to ask the questions that she still had, and hopefully the Young family can go home and don’t have to do another interview.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Oprah doesn’t normally watch other people’s TV shows.

Filming a naked sex tape while running for the US Presidency is stupid.

Having an affair while your wife publicly battles cancer and you run for President is not a good thing to do.

Even if your boss is like a father/ brother/ friend to you, claiming that his love child is your love child will not be easily understood by others.

Narcissism gone wild will always end in tears.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Sometimes you make a decision, and you’re in a mess, and the mess just gets messier and messier.

Date: February 19th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment

Episode 31: Fridays Live with Shaun White

It’s Friday live in Chicago, Team USA are flying high at the Winter Olympics. NBC’s Matt Lauer  is here live by satellite , Oprah shows Matt her Canadian Olympic mittens which she says are a hot item. Matt says that he is so humiliated that no one can get the Canadian Olymmpic mittens, they have scoured the country far and wide.. and Oprah shows up wearing them. Oprah says she has connections. Matt says that he should have known that. Last week she said her audience members said that she should have some. Matt shows some other hot souvenir items. The opening ceremony garb worn by the US team are very hot- the jackets, scarf and hat. They get a shot of Oprah in the studio and Matt says they might need a bigger hat- Oprah says she has a big ole head. Matt shows the mohawk hat, and says it’s for you Oprah. He shows her the umbrella with a hockey stick handle. Oprah says that is cool but she won’t be wearing the mohawk hat. Oprah asks what Matt’s favorite Olympic moment has been so far. Matt says when Seth Wescott won the snowboard medal coming from so far back and when Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau won the first gold for Canada on Canadian soil, when he stood for the Canadian national anthem. The hottest item in Vancouver is standing next to Matt right now, the men’s figure skating champion Evan Lysacek. The crowd go wild. Oprah says there is dancing in Napaville right now. Oprah asks if he knew when he came off the ice that he had done it? He says he has accomplished what he set out to do, he wanted to have his best performance here in the moment that mattered. It hasn’t begun to sunk in, it feels great. He could have stood on the podium for hours. He keeps reliving it. To the young skaters out there, Evan would like to say that you have tough days and great days as an athlete, but if you are in it for the right reasons, if you really love basketball or football or skating, on the tough days your love of the sport will get you through and push you and motivate you every day. Oprah sings that he looked so beautiful carrying the American flag. Matt will be back at 7am on the Today Show tomorrow. Matt says hats off to Evan, that words like perfection and  flawless are being used to describe his performance last night.

Lindsey Vonn from Minnesota, is here by satellite after winning the women’s gold for downhill skiing. The crowd go wild. Oprah asks Lindsey if it has sunk in- she says no, not at all. She was so overwhelmed with emotion after the event, but it’s amazing. she put the medal on again last night and she can’t believe she has one it seems so surreal. Oprah asks where she’s keeping it? On her nightstand right next to her bed. It is true that she cried for two hours afterwards. Yes, she says it was crazy and she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t say a sentence, there was too much emotion, too much going on, she couldn’t control it. She was thinking that everything she had worked for her whole life had come true. That she finally did it after so much pressure and expectations was more than she ever hoped for. Oprah said we were all heartsick yesterday when she fell, but Lindsey feels good for the Super G. She was disappointed when she fell, she was skiing well and felt that she could have been in contention for a medal, but that’s life. She feels good for tomorrow and she’ll do her best. Oprah says that they have been talking about Lindsey posing for Sports Illustrated. She asks if it’s scarier to be in her swimsuit or speeding down a mountain? Lindsay says in a swimsuit certainly, as you are totally exposed, everything is hanging out there. Oprah says she’s looking good girl, looking good. Thank you Lindsey, and good luck tomorrow. Oprah has some good news from the Hudson Bay Company, not only does Oprah have the mittens, everyone in the studio audience has the mittens. The crowd give a standing ovation, as women distribute the mittens to everyone.

Shaun White is in the studio! He’s known as the Flying Tomato, the animal, the undisputed master of the half pipe. The 23 year old  is one of the superstars of the games, he started snowboarding at age 6 and turned pro at 13. He started to win and win, beating people twice his age. Shaun first won gold in Turino and now he is flying high with multi-million deals, video games, the whole lot. His gravity defying stunts and  his signature red hair, make him one of the most recognisable athletes in the Olympic games. He is a two time gold medalist, he flew all night from Vancouver, come in Shaun. The crowd goes insane. They hug. He gives Oprah the medal to hold and the crowd shouts USA. She says it’s very heavy; he doesn’t know how much it weighs. He says that what is interesting about the medals  is that they are all cut from one piece and if you put them together again there is a picture. They agree that’s cool. Sean says that Matt got Oprah ahat and he did one better and gave Oprah an official Team USA snowboarding jacket. She says thank you, the crowd applaud. Oprah says that Shaun’s signature move is the Double McTwist 1260, she asks him to talk them through it as they watch it. As he takes off he says that it’s all about commitment, the whole trick is blind, he can’t see where he going until the very end. They play it again and slow it down. He has to know he’ll land it before he takes off, right here he is trying to spot his landing. He’s upside down. The edges are marked with blue and he prays he’s on the inside of the blue, not the outside. Oprah asks him how it feels at that moment. He says it’s hard to describe- you plan and dream for this day and everything builds up, It’s like reading a book, once you’ve read a couple of chapters you don’t remember what you have just read. He’s just in it, he can’t describe it. He knows how the bubble at the end feels. Oprah says that it is such a dangerous trick and he really had the gold wrapped up, so why risk it. He’s been working on this trick for 2 years, it’s been his best friend and worst enemy. At the X-Games, he had a spectacular crash.. the crowd whoop. He took a good hit to his cheek and had to bounce back. A lot of people asked why he got back up, but he had to.  He doesn’t give up easily, he got back up, the crowd goes wild. He said it did hurt, it was not his favorite time. He says he has to get straight back up or else it will affect him mentally. He ran immediately back to the top and did the trick. O says that he is the definition of getting back up after a fall. She asks how much he trains- he trains 1-2 hours a day where he does intensive stuff. Oprah asks if he trains in secret. He says that with the Olympics coming up they wanted it to be special so they did the big thing out in the Colorado wilderness. Some of the crowd cheer. Oprah says hello. He was with Red Bull and they did Project X and built a half pipe in the wilderness, only accessible by helicopter or snow mobile. They added a foam pit, the icing on the cake, so he could try tricks and safely land. There were moments learning the trick in the foam and then you actually have to do it… and his hands were shaking.

He says he didn’t think anyone waas watching his air guitar solo during the medal ceremony. Oprah says that everyone feels a great connection to him, and he says he feels connected to us. Oprah asks when he knew that this was his dream. He took every step towards his dream and it happened. Oprah asks if everyone was always supportive. When he first started doing snowboarding, there was no money, no Olympics, no X Games but his parents recognised his talent and pursued it. His mom runs away when he competes because it is too hard to watch. When he is spinning around, he is preparing for the next turn, it’s a mental preparation to find the next wall. He says he’s relaxed and at the top, he has fun and cracks jokes, but at the start gate it’s like a different person, he gets the confidence and, like a horse in the start gate, he’s ready to go. Oprah says she will never get the feeling he has. He says they’ll get  her up there. Oprah says no. Oprah says that millions of girls have a crush on him. He says he had a girlfriend for 4 years who was really supportive of him, but he hasn’t really had time to date or anything. He’s on the road all the time, it’s hard to date him. He has two golds, which is nice, beyond what he can fathom. He’s thinking of 2014 a bit, why would he not want to experience this again? He has met Joe Biden, now he’d love to meet the President. Oprah is pretty certain that is going to happen. Thanks to Shaun and congratulations.

Big news on Wednesday, a judge released 8 of 10 missionaries held in prison in Haiti, where they’ve been there for two weeks. This is what happened. On January 29th, 10 American  missionaries were arrested trying to leave the country with 33 children that they claimed were orphans. They were headed for an orphanage in the Dominican Republic and were charged with abduction and thrown in jail. Haitian authorities launched an investigation and learned that some of the children had parents. But those parents testified that they had willingly handed over their children in the hope of giving them a better life. So on Wednesday, a Haitian judge freed 8 of the 10, and yesterday they came home. Allegations have been made about the group leader, Laura Silsby, with questions about her intentions and financial motives . Jim Allen and his wife Lisa join the studio by satellite from Amarillo Texas. Oprah asks why Jim went to Haiti. After the coverage of the devastation on TV there was a real need for people to help and he has construction skills and experience to help the Haitian people. The trip fell into his lap, and with 2 days notice he was on his way to Haiti. When he first left he didnt know what to expect, he knew he had some skills and just wanted to help.  He says that they travelled around different orphanages in Port-Au-Prince, they met the director of two of the orphanages they visited. They brought out the kids one by one, and said  they had no mother or father and could the group take them to take care of them. They thought that they were taking the children to a temporary orphanage in Dominican Republic. It was a 45 room hotel and they were going to take care of the kids there. He was going to be there for 3-4 weeks then other teams were coming in behind them. He found going to jail to be quite a shock and not what they intended. Oprah says as someone who also works in other countries to help children, she can’t imagine how it is to try and help but be thrown in jail. Jim says that it was hard in jail, but they treated them as well as they could with what they had. They slept on a concrete floor but they had one hot meal a day which was actually good, but there were millions of people out in the street. It was bad for them, but better than for the other people. Lisa, Jim’s wife, was not too worried that he would be coming home soon, but she was concerned with the situation. They couldn’t communicate until Jim could use the attorney’s phone. Oprah says that there are allegations that the group leader planned to make a profit from the kids, to charge big fees for getting them placed. He doesn’t know anything about that, he got no indication of that at all. He hadn’t met the others, except for two,  until he was at Miami airport. but it seemed that people were legitimately concerned about helping the children. Oprah asks if there is any truth that 8 of them signed a note saying that they had been misled by Laura and handed it to the press. He says no, not at all, there is no truth in that. He had no ill feelings towards the Haiti authorities; it was a shock and hard to process but they were treated well. The legal processs is very different to here, but he felt that as soon as the story was told and the facts come out, then they’d be home. It was great to sleep in his own bed. Thank you both.

People magazine calls Lady Antebellum country music’s hottest band and just last month they won a Grammy. They play a song. Oprah says we’ll be right back. Footage plays from Madison WI asking Hilary from  Lady Antebellum  if she wants to play on Oprah, she screaches and cries. The first time they heard their single on the radio, Hillary cried too. Oprah grew up in Nashville, and went to East Nashville High School , and back then, country was country, and what happened? Dave says that they are still writing about the same things, they try to write honest songs about things that they have been through. They are excited that people are gravitating towards them. They write together and sometimes bring in a co writer. Dave will strum the guitar, the other two will mumble something and lay it down. Oprah says that heartbreak makes a lot of good music. Amen to that says Hillary. Lady Antebellum are currently on tour with David McGraw. They are ready to take the pledge, no texting and driving. Sean White has signed his no-phone zone pledge. Thank you very much everyone, have a great weekend.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Oprah says that she has a big head.

It’s scarier to model fro Sports Illustrated than it is to speed down a mountain.

The Double McTwist 1260 has been Shaun White’s best friend and worst enemy for the last 2 years.

Shaun White wants to meet Obama, Oprah is sure it will happen.

Being jailed in Haiti is bad but not as bad as being out on the streets.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

The Olympics are awesome, winning gold feels great, there is some stylish souvenir clothing, most of which Oprah now owns.

Date: February 12th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment

Episode 26: Happy Valentine’s Day- Oprah Fridays LIVE

It’s Friday and here live in Chicago, if you’re snowed in and watching with the whole family, let’s start with the Superbowl. The Saints won and  Superbowl NVP Drew Brees is here. What a beautiful family, they’re all here, Oprah just saw the baby in the back, who dat cute. Over 106 million people watched the Superbowl, more than any other TV show in history.Did you see the ads? [They play the Oprah sitting between David Letterman and Jay Leno advert]. Gail emailed her after the ad aired saying people think they are superimposed there. Oprah shows picures to show they were all there together, it was a super top secret thing with only a handful of people in the know. They filmed at Dave’s studio in New York, just as Oprah was going in, incognito with a hood on, a woman said Hey Oprah. Jay came in in disguise. Jay and David hadn’t talked for 18 years- everything went away that had happened between them for the last 18 years.

Tonight the Olympics kick off in Vancouver. Matt Lauer will be covering the games for NBC, he joins us via satellite. Oprah says she just saw him with Michael Bublé- he was just inside the chalet, he’s from Barnaby, Vancouver so he just did a couple of songs. Matt apologises if he cries during the set, the bonfire seemed like a good idea but the smoke keeps blowing into his eyes. Matt ran with the torch yesterday, aso did Bublé. Matt said it was maybe the coolest part of his life- you get to wear the cool outfit but you get the pep talk before that says the torch is the greatest symbol of peace in the whole world. He doesn’t care how cool you think you are, when the person carries the flame to you, you turn to jelly. It seemed like an eternity even though it was only 300m, Matt just loved it. Oprah asks if you worry that your hair might catch on fire when the wind blows, Matt shows his lack of hair and says are you kidding me? What’s supposed to catch on fire there? Oprah hears the schedule is hefty- Matt broadcasts live to the East Coast so they fim at 4am Vancouver time. Today is a particularly long day as they just did the show then tonight he’s covering the opening ceremony with Bob Costas. The pageantry and spectacle of the opening ceremony will not be disappointing. He saw it a couple of nights ago and it will end with a big surprise. 7.30 eastern time there’s a warmup then the opening ceremony. For the first time ever this is filmed indoors and the parade of athletes will be at the beginning not the end. Oprah says she watches him and the mornings and last week wore red at his urging. Matt says he wants to be invited to the worst superbowl party ever next year (referencing the advert). Thanks Matt, we’ll be watching the opening ceremonies tonight.

Drew Brees comes to the studio and the crowd go wild. Wow wow wow says Oprah. Its wonderful to see each other. Drew says the moment of winning was surreal and he still has to pinch himself. Oprah just felt that the Saints were going to do it. After all that New Orleans has been through, all the pain and suffering and psychic and spiritual energy, she felt that the Saints would do it. Drew says he never had a doubt, he felt the energy of the country was with them, everyone related to what the team means to the city and what a win would do for them. 106 million people watched Drew step up in the moment that he needed to. Drew says the emotion throughout the game had to reeled in. For the first half or quarter you just have to find a way to calm down, then you tell yourself it’s just aother game and only when it’s over do you allow yourself to reflect. Oprah says she’s heard him say before that its not about the winning but about the journey. For him, he was trying to reflect upon that when he stood on the stand with his son getting the trophy- he tried to stay in the moment. The crowd awws as they show a photo of him holding his son up in the air on the Superbowl night. Drew says it’s special and he’ll remember it for the rest of his life. His son is only 13 months old and he wont remember this. He told his son what an inspiration he is to Drew, and he said he loved him and we did it. little boy. Oprah says that Drew does have the cutest boy in the world. A few years ago when he injured his shoulder and it almost ended his career, Drew has said that it was the best thing to happen to him. Drew says that everyone in their position has been told they can’t do it for whatever reason and sure that’s a motivation. For him, he plays for the people who do believe in him, that’s who he thinks of before every game. His eyes well up when he listens to the national anthem, and thinks of the implications of what he’s doing. Oprah says she has great respect for Peyton Manning, Drew says that they normally meet after the game on the 50 yard line, but that didnt happen this time. But Manning sent him a text afterwards and is a very classy football player. Oprah hopes he didn’t text from the car- it was from the tour bus. Drew also did a commercial where he sang in the shower for Dove for Men. Here are a few extra scenes. The crowd applaud. Dove has a whole new line of products and Oprah says that this is a great way to introduce them. For Drew singing in the shower in front of the cameras was a little out of his comfort zone, it was tense at first then he decided to just have fun. Drew is comfortable in his own skin and enjoyed the experience.

They show the footage of Drew, his son Bailey and his wife Brittany at the Superbowl. Brittany says she felt so stressed out she thought she’d throw up. And Bailey is just like his Dad, so active- so he wants to walk, eat, play, watch the game. Her mom helps during the game, but Bailey helps her calm down and puts things into perspective. She says Drew is great at handling pressure, he can compartmentalise and really focus; then he does his best. They all got to bed about 3.30am, he said to Brittany, did that really happen? It was the culmination of 4 years of hard work.  She said she didn’t know- it looks like a great commercial with all the confetti. The city is unbelieveable right now, there was 40,00 people at the airport and the parade brought out 800,000 in a city of only 400,000. It seems like people from all around the world are identifying with the city and that is just great. The couple are college sweethearts,- she married the quarterback and then he won the Superbowl. Brittany says that it’s been amazing and there have been the ups and downs of his career. She remembers seeing him in the hospital room after his surgery, not knowing if he would ever play again, but God gives you the strength and they prayed about it – and if anyone is going to do it, it would be Drew. She’s so proud of him, all those hours of rehab and the not knowing where they were going to live, she’s just so proud of him. Oprah asks what happens now? Drew says on Valentine’s Day they’ll be in the Bachus Parade for Mardi Gras, their anniversary was the day after the Superbowl, their 7 year anniversary, so they’ll spend some time with family and  take two weeks to have a Valentine’s Day, anniversary celebration. A Saints superfan in Chicago, Chris Rodgers is in the studio, they show footage of his house filled with Saints gear. He cried like a baby when they won. Chris’ lifelong dream is to catch a football from Drew Brees- Drew throws the football and Chris catches it.

1985’s recording of We Are The World plays the show back in from the commercial break. It has been 25 years since Lionel Ritchie wrote We Are The World with Michael Jackson and Oprah’s dear friend Quincy Jones produced it. Two weeks ago they  got together with 80 artists to re-record  the song with all proceeds to go to help the Haiti earthquake. There’s only one Lionel Ritchie and he’s here. Oprah is so excited that he’s going to sing. The crowd clap and scream. He doesn’t know if he can sing this early in the morning. The new video will debut tonight at the opening ceremony at the winter olympics. Nicole was 5 years old when they recorded the original, and now she’s there with her son and Joel. They play an exclusive extract of the new recording- there are artists in 3 different rooms. Pink, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Mary J Blige… all the stars wanted to be apart of it. Last time, Quincy put up a sign that said check your egos at the door. This time, Lionel says the egos lasted about 20 minutes. then all of a sudden when seeing the images from Haiti, the egos stop. They knew what they were there to do. Oprah asks how they assign parts to sing-Lionel says life is wonderful while you’re busy making plans. It happens. They had a list of who would sing what line, and they realised that the new people are nervous. They had 3 seperate rooms, with different cameras and Panavision. They thought it would be a secret, and the stars were Tweeting during the first verse. He’d never seen so much excitement- Tony Bennett and Snoop Dog talking to each other, Little Wayne and Barbara Streisand talking to each other. Oprah has heard the story from Quincy so many times about how they wrote the lyrics to the song and needed the last verse. Lionel tells the story of lying on the floor in Michael Jackson’s room when he spotted a python behind some records. Lionel ran away from the albino python that Michael had mislaid in his room. They wanted Michael in the recording, so he sings his part from the original, and his sister Janet sings along with him. Lionel says everyone stepped up to the plate and it’s beautiful. Oprah asks if women always want him to sing to them when he dates; he says no. Oprah says as it’s Valentine’s Day in two days, who better to have than Lionel Ritchie, Mr Love Song himself. He has hand-picked some of his favorites. He sings and wishes the crowd a Happy Valentine’s Day. Oprah runs on stage to hug him and says that was beautiful.

Someone you all know recently admitted that he texts and talks in the car. Today he takes the commitment, he takes Oprah’s pledge. He says it will be hard for him, it’s like kicking an addiction. He’s in the car and the phone rings and he lets it go. Can you imagine how dumb you’d feel if you picked up a call and got in an accident? At work he calls a mandatory company meeting to say that company policy now means that no one can text or do company business in the car. Nate Berkus and his amazing staff, take the pledge. Oprah says we used to drive and think about things in the cars and have some time to ourselves.

Oprah has a car to help Haiti, over 300 celebrities have signed it already- George Clooney, Mariah Carey, Julia Roberts and so many others through Stars for a Cause. This Chrysler 300 will be auctioned next week, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross for Haiti relief. Oprah agreed to sign the car on the basis that she would put her No-Phone Zone bumper sticker on the car. She attaches the sticker, signs the car and thanks Chrysler. They have modified the pledge- you can agree to stop texting, agree to only hands free calling or give it all up. Have a great Valentine’s Day and go to Oprah.com to download Lionel Ritchie singing Hello to you.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Oprah, Letterman and Leno were all in the same room to film their Superbowl advert, it was not a special effect.

Carrying the Olympic torch would turn anyone to jelly.

Drew Brees is comfortable in his own skin.

There’s only one Lionel Ritchie.

The no phone zone pledge as been modified to allow people to semi-pledge.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

The Superbowl was awesome, the Olympics will be too. Lionel Ritchie wishes everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Date: February 10th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment

Episode 24: Celine Dion’s Showstopping Surprise

Nobody does it like Celine Dion. She is the number one selling artists of the last decade and has been a good friend of the Oprah show for the last few years. They hug. The crowd are hysterical. Celine Dion has a new movie coming out that the audience just saw, Oprah says it’s fantastic, its called Celine Through the Eyes of the World. and opens on February 17th for two weeks only. Oprah wants to go on a world tour, she asks if Celine ever forgets where she is when she goes on stage and says Hello South Africa, Hello Prague Hello France- does she get told just before she goes out. Celine hopes she doesn’t forget. Going to South Africa was an amazing experience for her, for her son and mother, to meet Nelson Mandela. It was a very emotional moment , it was beyond being an artist. At first the camera crew was there for the family, for them to bring back souvenirs and memories, but she said they quickly forgot about the cameras and the truth came out. Her mom was on tour with them for the first time, and her son was there too. Her husband, René said that the footage was too good to keep it to themselves. It was an extraordinary opportunity and now it gives the fans a VIP ticket to see them in the car, the hotel room. It is like travelling with them.

They show a clip of Celine’s tribute to Michael Jackson at the Grammys. She says it was awkward and an emotional feeling for all of them. She was and is a big fan of Michael Jackson. As a teenager she had posters of Michael Jackson on her wall, as did Oprah. She thought that as a French speaking person, she should learn English just in case she might get to perform with him one day, plus she thought if she could be in showbusiness, she could sing with him. She went to school to learn English, she met with him, she performed with him, he came to her show in Vegas, so the Grammys for her was a very difficult emotion. She as honored to be asked, but she was mad that Michael Jackson was not there with them. All of them didnt really want to perform but wanted to carry his message. Even showbiz people sometimes take what the media says as the truth, so she thought Michael was sick. When she saw his movie, she was mad because he was in really good shape. She felt the loss so deeply. After the Grammys, she got together with 80 artists to record a new version of We Are The World, led by Oprah’s friend Quincy Jones. Celine says life does things to us, bad things like earthquakes, and no one deserves that, and it is the responsibility of all of us, of all the artists who can use their voice or TV to raise money they  should. They can get together to say lets get together. It was magical, it was enjoyable, its time to lift them up and not forget, not put our heads down.

Oprah says its wonderful that Celine’s family gets to travel together, and that its hard to believe her son René-Charles is 9. Oprah says she remembers when he was born, just like Celine does. Celine says time flies, he was homeschooling then tour schooling. But now he has his own school, life and teacher, he’s so proud to wear his uniform. They have a female labrador puppy, Charlie. Celine repeatedly says you change your voice with a puppy, and does an impression, Oprah says she does it all the time with her two new puppies.

For one year cameras followed Celine’s every move across five continents, 25 countries, and 93 cities. She sold out one of the largest stadiums in the world in a day. Three million fans came from all over the globe to hear her voice. The concert movie experience is unforgettable with intimate family moments and signature spectacular performances. René is amazing because he walks in the house with treats in two pockets, the puppy is only 5 months old. René regrets the fact that he didn’t have a puppy as a child. Oprah was sorry to hear Celine had a miscarriage. Celine says it’s life, people go through this. They are on the fifth try for a child, she says this one has to come in if five is her lucky number. The crowd cheer. Oprah asks if these moments make her marriage stronger. Celine doesn’t think a child or a pregnancy should make a marriage stronger, it shouldn’t be the job of the child to repair a mariage. People always say things to comfort her, to make her stronger. She will be the one to tell if she’s pregnant and if not she is a lucky artist, wife and mother, and she’s glad.

Oprah asks if there was a conscious decision on tour to enjoy their time abroad. Celine says they decided to make it not only an artist tour but to make it a family adventure to see the beauty of the world. Gail and Oprah went to see her in France. Oprah didn’t want to because the singing would be in French. She says it was fun. Celine did the big tour and then she has been off for a year. Oprah asks what a typical day is like. Celine has never been so busy in her life to go to school at 6.30am with her son. They get involved at school, sometimes she’s pizza mom, but she loves it. She gets to know the environment of her child, she wants to be R.C.’s mom, not R.C.”s mom Celine Dion. She wants to engage, she says we call it a normal life for most people but for Celine it is extraordinary. This is the place she feels so rewarded, to make a difference in her sons life. The schoolwork she can’t even help with but she tries to pretend that she can.

During Celine’s world tour, René-Charles had a private tutor, with mommy time in between shows. After he looses his precious stuffed lamb, Celine screamed and cries when it was found. She says it was such a big thing, when her son started homeschooling he had this lamb with him all the time, and they left it in  a hotel room. R.C. wasnt sleeping well, they tried to get another one online but a new one isn’t crooked and doesn’t smell right. She called the hotel room for 4 or 5 days and she wanted it more than her son wanted it. It was a big thing, she doesnt know if all mothesrs are like this, she gets attached to a 2c thing or $200 thing. New stuff doesnt mean so much but things with memories she is atached to. She has shoeboxes full of leaves, rocks and flowers that her son collected. She keeps everything. When Celine’s dad passed away alot of flowers were sent; nuns in Quebec can dry your flowers and make them into rosary beads. Her whole family received beads from the flowers given to her dad. She doesn’t know what she’ll do wth it but she’ll make something and give it back to her son.This is the longest she’s been away from him, five days is the longest. She wants him with her every day but she respects his life. A video message from her son plays, saying they love her and miss her. Celine and Oprah grab hands.

Celine’s music resonates with people all over the world. Oprah says that music really is the language of the world. Lyndsey from Liverpool England grew up in 16 different foster homes, and Celine Dion’s music taught her to to be loved and love back. Lyndsey waited for Celine outside her hotel room but couldn’t speak, she was too emotional. On Skype, she thanks Celine for making her a better person than she was, she loves her so much and she will always be thankful to Celine for being such an inspiration as a mum, a wife, a daughter and a sibling; she’s a better person because of what Celine does. Alice is a Palestinian student in Jerusalem, she says the music is very popular in the Arab world, even though they’re stereotyped as being a closed society. They like dramatic Western music, and Celine can be heard at many weddings- the first dance for the bride and groom is often a Celine song. Her favorite song is My Heart Will Go On, but she’ll probably use either Power of Love or Because You Love Me for her first song.

All over the world, in the film,  Oprah says the women with the scarves in Arab countries mouth along with the words just like Western women. Celine says that people may not realise how powerful music can be, it breaks barriers and has no religion. Celine is there to serve the music the best she can, she’s not there to create anything. God has given her something to work with, a voice, and she serves the music with the message. She serves the music as best she can. Celine is about to sing a song that represents how she feels about her family, friends and fans, and it’s a song for Oprah. As she sings, family photos are displayed on a screen behind her.

They have been called Canada’s national treasure, the Canadian Tenors are shooting up the charts. They are huge Celine fans. They think they are here for a program on hot new talent, but they’re not. Celine is back stage waiting in the wings about to sing along. In the fake show, Oprah introduces the Canadian Tenors who say they’ve had a great year and will be singing at the Olympics. They sing Hallelujah. Behind them comes Celine Dion, they are shocked yet continue to sing and they all harmonize with Celine Dion.

Oprah goes on stage, and asks them how it was for them , they say they were in shock, they thank Celine for being an inspiration and thank her for the opportunity. One member says that Celine Dion and Oprah have the same quality as Maria Callas to touch people’s heart. Another says that the Oprah factor was enough, and then adding Celine nearly stopped his heart. Celine is going back to Vegas, starting March 2011, with a big band, she will perform her own songs and a tribute to old time Hollywood. The Canadian Tenor’s have a new album in stores now and Celine’s movie will be in the theatres for two weeks only, thanks everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Dried flowers can be turned into rosary beads by nuns in Quebec.

Celine Dion is there to serve the music with the message, with her voice given by God.

Celine Dion’s husband is called René and her son is called René-Charles.

Taking your child to school is a normal life for most people but for Celine it is extraordinary.

Some people learn to love and be loved through the music of Celine Dion.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Women in Arab countries are just like Western women, they sing along with Celine Dion songs too.

Date: February 5th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment

Episode 21: Oprah Fridays Live

After all these years, it’s not often they have a first, but yesterday they had their first baby being born in the Harpo Studios. An hour later, it was a baby. Lori McKendall from Toronto Canada, and she is on the phone from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. She had been trying for years to get to the show, she flew in for 2 days and thought she’d be fine at 27 weeks pregnant, but it happened there. She went to the bathroom and her water broke, after that it progressed really fast. Thanks to all the staff at the studio for getting her to the ambulance, and the paramedics, the baby was born about 20 minutes after she arrived at the hospital. The baby is having a lot of tests, he’s doing pretty good but it’ll be a long rough road. He was 2lbs 13 oz, but they’re checking his heart and lungs and things today. His name is Justin, Oprah says aah, Justin Oprah. Lori says they were considering Harpo. A contraction hit just as Oprah went to see her in the ambulance. Oprah says we will all send our love Justin McKendall’s way, and whenever Lori is ready, Oprah will fly her back to see the show. Thank you.

It’s Friday and Oprah is live in Chicago. She asks if everyone saw Pink at the Grammys, all she can say is Wowie Kazowie. That was something else, coming up, Pink! Wowie says Oprah, they hug. Oprah whoops. The audience go crazy. Oprah says Pink certainly gave the world something to talk about. Pink says it was fun, a good night. Oprah asks if it’ll be a momentous part of her life. Pink says yes, she really realized that when everyone stood up at the end. She went from super-graceful with the silks to all  tee hee, she waves and looks nerdy. Oprah wants her to do a play by play after the show on Oprah.com. to explain how she sang while upside down, because you can’t even hear her breathe. Pinks says on the trapeze she breathes even more so people know the mic is live. She was a gymnast for 7 years and loves acrobatics, and she’s seen the dancers do it before but never the lead singer so she thought why not. She sounds better upside down, she doesn’t know why. Oprah asks if she ever gets out of breath. Pink says when she walks out she’s nervous and her voice shakes, but once she’s in the silks, she’s no longer thinking, she’s in the moment. Her mind turns off, her voice turns on.  She wanted to do Glitter for the Grammys because after 10 years people still don’t know what she does. Its a spriritual song and the performance is spiritual, ethereal and visually beautiful. Oprah says it felt transendent, we got in the music. Pink says she wanted to get all the famous people wet. Her husband said a lot of people were shielding themselves from the water, and others were basking in it. Oprah asks whats she doing to her body to be so lean and muscley. She is just back from tour where she gets in really good shape, when she comes home she cooks and gets fat and happy. She used  the P90x video workout, but she bulks up too much so now she runs 70 minutes and does yoga for an hour a day. Oprah says she’s heard she has man-abs, Pink says now she has a bagel.

Oprah asks if growing up Pink wanted to be an Olympic gymnast. Oprah heard at one point she could do 18 back handsprings in a row- it was her party trick, that or she could sing Vision of Love. She seperated her shoulder the night before her US tour started, which was fun, so she can’t flip anymore, but the silks are making her stronger. She feels most herself onstage. She did say to herself well done after the Grammy. She didn’t forget the words or start laughing- that was the fastest spin she’s ever done, so she got a little dizzy. Oprah says it was a fabulous moment for all of us, thank you.

Pink dazzled  the Grammys and a TV audience of 26 million. “I Don’t Believe You” is off her Platinum album, Funhouse, and is the most humble song she’s ever written. This song is apologetic, questioning, begging. She and her husband broke up for a year. Pink was sure she was perfect prior to it,and she spent 6 years trying to change someone else. But she realized that she was distracting herself from learning who she was. Pink thinks you learn more about yourself in the context of a relationship, rather than starting again. Oprah says that’s what it is all about. Pink sings live. Oprah says that was very personal. The crowd applaud.

All eyes will be on Miami this Sunday when 100 million people will tune in for the Superbowl. Oprah tunes in for the commercials.  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has always been larger than life, from college football champion, to professional wrestling where his alter ego The Rock was born. Then Hollywood came calling and he scored again. He got the highest salary ever for his first lead role in The Scorpion King; his movies have grossed $1.5 billion, worldwide.

This is his first visit to Oprah, but she saw him at something last year and said oh there’s the Rock, he says that he says the same- oh there’s Oprah. He says it never gets old looking so good, he had a good upbringing with a mom who taught him to be gracious and thankful. As a 23-24 year old graduate of the University of Miami, he had $7 in his pocket, he had to move back in with his parents in Tampa, so he had a goal list. 1. was to buy his parents a house, – they’d struggled as he grew up and lived in little efficiencies, 2 was to marry his college sweetheart,- they since divorced but they are business partners and very very close, 3 was to graduate,  4 was to get out of all debt and the last was to take care of his grandmother’s situation, she had nowhere to live which he did. He did all that. Oprah asks hypothetically if when coming from nothing it is exciting to do things for others- he says yes, therein lies the power that Oprah can attest to, the power to change lives. The quote ‘if you”ve ever been hungry, you’ll never be full’ plays a big part in his life. Oprah agrees, you’ll never be satisfied, so how can you improve? which was what she said to Pink at the commercial break. When you see a performer push themselves beyond the expected, it makes you look inside yourself and think what can I do? That’s the power of great art right there. Dwayne says therein  lies the power of our president, and others, but it comes down to wanting to be a better person everyday. His hunger doesn’t subside, but his perspective changes. For some time he was investing in his career, but it wasn’t until his divorce with Danni, who had the capacity to bring him through the sludge of divorce and out to greatness. It taught him the power of investing in himself, not just his career. As an only child and fairly selfish, through the divorce process and having a little girl he grew as a person. Oprah remarks that he seems so calm and not  The Rock-like. he says he can be more The Rock.

Dwayne is a former college football camp; he’d like the Colts to win, but there’s something special about the New Orleans Saints. For those of us who tune in for the commercials, Dwayne will give some tips- The Colts are one of the strongest teams of the decade, they’ve had tremendous success, they have a Hall of Fame winning quarterback, they know what it is to win. New Orleans have an intangible magic, New Orleans and America have rallied behind the game so they could win too. If Oprah wanted to impress people at the party she’s going to, to make it look like she knows football, this is what she should say. She should walk in the room and say something like the pass protection has to improve, and then she should step back out. Or she could say, there’s got to be better blocking up front. If all that fails then she should walk in and scream over and over, Where’s the flags, ref? I quit. That’s good, Oprah says.

Dwayne will be at home because he’s shooting on Monday, a new action film. His goal ten years ago was to have a wide range of acting work, however he loves comedies and family movies, but there’s nothing like kicking butt. When he first got money, he bought his parents a house and himself a Rolex watch. It was the status symbol he knew as a kid. He wore it like 3 times then gave it to his dad. Now he does simple things to indulge, he spends time with his girl, she’s an amazing rider, he tries to sing to her, she’ll walk out. Oprah asks what’s the craziest thing that  a woman has done to get his attention? He often gets notes left on his car or his mailbox or at the security gate. A couple of years ago, a professional business woman showed him a tattoo of his face on her thigh. Oprah says interesting, it’s a delight to talk to him and she’d like to do it again.

Oprah is here with Cristina Ferrarei, the ‘love chef’ who loves to cook for those she loves. Cristina says that after the show she’ll be wrapped in silks, dipped in sauce and twirled from the ceiling so that everyone will remember this show. She’s starting with making guacamole, and it’s a healthy version so she can stick with her resolution to lose the 87lbs she gained over Christmas. The recipe is on Oprah.com. She adds alot of jalapeno, some cilantro and salt to the avocado that Oprah is mashing. They add lime juice, with the best squeezer gadget in the kitchen. Oprah didn’t know that lime juice is traditionally added to guacamole. The pit at the bottom of the bowl stops the guacamole from browning. They move on to tacos, taco seasoning is added after the lean beef is browned in canola oil. Her idea for the superbowl party is to keep her glycemic index even, just like on yesterday’s program. Filo cups are baked in the oven and filled with the taco meat for taco bites. They are frosted like a cupcake with guacamole, with a little cheese and salsa on top. Oprah says its healthy if you eat two or three of them, not a whole plate, Cristina says that you fill yourself up on two or three so that you don’t eat junk for the whole day. Christina is famous for her kick-butt chilli, the secret is beer and masa at the end to thicken it up. She serves it with mini potato skins made from fingerling potatoes, with a little terriyaki. They can be used to dip or to stuff with chilli. All the recipes are on Oprah.com, go Colts and Saints and make your car a no-phone zone

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

You learn most about yourself in the context of a relationship: stick with it, learn, don’t quit.

During the Grammys, Pink wanted all the famous people to get wet.

‘If you”ve ever been hungry, you’ll never be full’.

Set goals early, achieve them.

The Colts may well win the Superbowl on Sunday, but the Saints could too.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

The way to The Rock’s heart is not via a tattoo of his face on your thigh.

Date: February 3rd, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment, Transformation

Episode 19: Stars of Reality TV: Fantasia’s Comeback and Ruby’s Revelations

Her raw singing talent thrust her into stardom, but it all came crashing down after her. Over 30 million people watched her dream come to life as Fantasia Barrino won American Idol in 2004. She had it all—and almost lost it. Her first album went platinum, and her Broadway debut in The Color Purple landed her rave reviews and brought audiences to their feet. But suddenly her meteoric rise became a troubling freefall-  sales  of her second album were dispappointing, and as the sole breadwinner for her family, her finances began to crumble. She almost lost her house, she put on 30lbs, and she kept missing appearances which resulted in a hit on her reputation.

Fantasia is here. Her eyes water whenever she sees footage of herself win American Idol- it was a special moment that changed her life. It was something she always wanted to do but she felt it would never happen for her because she didn’t have a diploma, she is a single mom. She felt that her curse had been broken and that she could follow her dreams. Oprah recalls that several years ago she warned Fantasia that with all the money she would get “cousins” coming out of the woodwork. Does Fantasia think she mismanaged the financial side? Yes she did. She turned up to perform, and she let others handle her money and arrange where she had to be. She allowed them to take care of everything. She was young and naive and didn’t realise that she had to be involved in accounts and schedules, to make sure that people weren’t taking advantage of her talent.

Oprah, as the producer of The Color Purple had been so excited for Fantasia to star in the broadway hit. Scott and the others were so excited and thrilled. At the end, Fantasia began to miss so many performances that they had to pay back over  half a million to the audience in cancelled performance fees. More than the money, this was for many the first Broadway play that people had seen- people would bus from California to see her, and they were extremely disappointed when she wasn’t there. Fantasia had never done Broadway, nor had she seen a Broadway play. She wasn’t prepared for what comes with it. 8 shows a week and she had to also deal with her own life as a single mom taking care of everybody. It became an overload. What people don’t know is that she had to have two tumors removed from her vocal chords- as an artist who sang since she was five, she’d never been to a throat doctor- this was the first time she had worked with throat coaches. You can’t give your best only on some days, she doesn’t know how to give half. Towards the end she was very tired, and if she wasn’t on stage she was in the hospital getting an IV. Why didn’t you tell me? asks Oprah. Fantasia says she couldn’t find her. They laugh. Oprah asks why she didn’t say something to someone. Fantasia says that some of the producers knew she was getting an IV, and she just had to keep coming back for the next performance. She went to the best doctor in LA who took the tumors out and now she’s as good as gold.

Oprah says that’s scary for anybody, but for Fantasia it is her livelihood and joy. She couldn’t work for 6 weeks and she has to pay all the bills. She asked the lord and he said stop taking care of everybody. Now a reality show follows her battle back into success. As a single mom without a diploma, she wants more for her daughter than she has. Footage shows her daughter has 4 American Girl dolls, they all needed clothes. Her daughter got a guitar and a pampering party for all her friends for her birthday party. Her mother says Fantasia gives her daughter so much to make up for her absence. Oprah asks if she’s worried about spoiling her daughter? A little, because she’s always on the road and she has to keep working to pay for a good school.

2 years ago, Fantasia told People magazine that she was too broke to buy pizza. Oprah asks was there not a lot of money which came in after American Idol, and Fantasia says she doesn’t want to throw anyone under the bus- there was a lot of money coming in but she doesn’t know where it went. After the surgery, no money was coming in so she called her manager because her card was declined trying to buy pizza. The manager wired her some money, and at that point Fantasia knew she’d been mishandled. It hit her, wow. And she couldn’t ask anyone in her family  for anything, this was of her making. When she got her money from American Idol she’d send it home to her mom who was living in a hotel having just divorced. After she won, she wanted to make her whole family happy. In a family of six adults, she’s the only one working. In her reality show you can see how Teeny, her big brother, is unwilling to work. Her mom said Fantasia  enabled him, and now he’s disabled- he will not work. He has everything that he’s ever asked Fantasia for. He hangs out in the pool house all day long. Fantasia has decided that she doesn’t wasnt to take care of everybody. She has had it, she’s over it, it’s time for Teeny to go. She texted him to go. He was hysterical.

Fantasia put him out, don’t get her wrong she loves him, he’s her brother, but it’s too much. He’s a man, and the bible says if a man don’t work then a man don’t eat. Before Fantasia was blessed, her brother was the only one that worked, he could have gone to college on a scholarship, and now they are all take take take. She cherishes her house, and as they don’t pay the bills, they don’t cherish it. She hasn’t changed with money, she’s grown. Oprah quotes a book, The Gift of Fear, saying when you say no and others don’t listen, then they are trying to control you. Oprah asks if Fantasia was cautious about exposing her family this way? A litle, but she wanted them to see themselves, and they don’t see how hard she is working. Coming home to their drama where they don’t even say thank you. They pout, and she needs them, so she always ends up giving them something.

She had a lot of lawsuits coming to her, from her family and others, and they came after both of her homes. The home went up for auction. It was very embarrassing. What has she learned, Oprah asks. She has learned how to say no. Two, she has to be in control of her destiny- her money, her shows, everything. She is 25 and she can’t allow people to take care of her destiny. Oprah says she’s lucky to know that by 25. Fantasia performs her new single as inspired by her struggle.

Millions of women connect with reality star Ruby Gettinger, they laugh cry and struggle along as she tries to loose weight. Ruby at her heaviest weighed 716lbs, she knows her problem is both mental and physical. She doesn’t remember anything from her life before age 13. Now Ruby is starting to peel back the layers to discover the truth. This season cameras follow Ruby as she achieves major breakthroughs- she wears jeans for the first time in her life. She comes into the studio, wearing jeans. Last time Ruby told Oprah that she’d never weighed below 350lbs as an adult, she is just under that now. Last time Oprah asked what Ruby was feeding- and she was feeding pain. Her childhood has been surpressed. As a child the only medication that you can access is food. She thought this was just about  food, but it is about her pain in the past. To help track down her lost childhood, she hired a private detective who found a physician’s assistant who treated Ruby and her mother over 20 years ago. She met with the doctor, Dr Dukes; they used to come weekly, and he thinks that the mother was trying to protect Ruby from something that she suffered as a child. The doctor thought that Ruby’s mother fed her so much to keep her unattractive. She doesn’t know what happened, she will sit down with the doctor and her mother to find the secret behind her lost childhood.

Ruby recently realised that her missing years are the reason she overeats. Dr Dukes and her mom were really close at one time, so Ruby feels he’ll help. Her mother started seeing Dr Dukes for general things, but later on she figured out that there was something severely wrong and she was treated for clinical depression, and considered suicide. She was afraid of suicide, nothing happened but it almost did. When she was 11 or 12 she was by herself with someone who was kin to her and he told her not to open that door. The doctor says his aunt fed her beautiful girls to make them less attractive to men, and that maybe this was the case here. Her mother says she enabled all her children.

Oprah says that our past affects who we are now, but the real issue with food is what we do every time we have an emotion. Oprah knows from experience that emotional eaters eat to deal with their feelings- when happy, sad, stressed, bored.. . Ruby didn’t realise she was over-eating on snacks, all day long. Ruby needed food, it was giving her something that she wasn’t getting.  Oprah says food was love for Ruby. Ruby agrees.  Ruby’s father was gone alot because he was in the airforce. She doesn’t remember him at all from that time, but from age 13 up she became close to him to teach him how to love. He was a geat father and provider, but he couldn’t hold her hand or say he loved her. Oprah says Ruby  ate to make herself loved- with a disconnected father and a suicidal depressed mother.

Ruby went to see a plastic surgeon on her TV program, “Ruby”. He draws on the skin on her body- you trade the fat for loose skin or for scars. She had been excited to see a surgeon, but seeing the scars was horrific. The choice of hanging skin or scars is difficult. Oprah has always been told that if you cut the underarm flab, the scar never goes away. Ruby says it’s a no-win situation. She feels the hanging skin is worse than the scars. Nothing can change the hanging skin. Ruby had diabetes, and now it is under control, she no longer has to take medication. She was on 4 medications for the silent killer- tomorrow’s show is a one-hour special on the silent killer. Ruby feels healthier than ever, she has a fast-pace, she is not limited by anything, At 700lb, she couldn’t have sat in this chair. She wants to help others- to ask what are you hungry for, what are you feeding? Initially she couldn’t deal with the fact that she was a food addict. Oprah is a food addict, she doesn’t like to say it but it is the truth.

It’s a journey, season 3 of Ruby starts on Monday on the Style Network. Remember don’t text and drive. Thank  you.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Learn to say no, even to family, if they ask for more than you can give.

Fantasia works really, really hard.

Money doesn’t change you, it makes you grow.

When you say no and others don’t listen, then they are trying to control you.

You don’t get to be 716lb if you are not feeding a suppression.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Don’t be the sole breadwinner in a house of 6 capable adults. Food is food, not love.

Date: January 29th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment, Public Service Announcement

Episode 16: Happy Birthday Oprah! Fridays LIVE

Happy Birthday Oprah! Live in Chicago and it’s Oprah’s birthday and it is the birthday of 101 people in the audience. Happy Birthday to all you Aquarians, they are wonderful people. Kayla is the youngest at 16, she is about to get her driver’s license and has taken the no-driving-phone pledge. Betty is the oldest birthday girl, she is 101. She attributes her success in life to a little scotch every now and then. Her son Freddy is here and it’s his birthday- he is 79 today. That’s incredible. Michelle is 31, she came all the way from Sydney Australia. Everyone says g’day to Michelle. Oprah says that everyone is asking her what she’s doing for her birthday; she’s doing the show for her birthday. She decided to get herself two birthday babies- in come 2 springer spaniels. They are 14 week old puppies, Sunny and Lauren. Oprah always thought her next dog would be called Lauren, so this was fate. They come from Paws, a no-kill shelter in Chicago. Oprah was nervous about getting puppies then a friend suggested that she gets help. Neutering your animal extends the length of their life, and makes them more social. The puppies have a brother, but Stedman said that three would be too much. Nancy, a good friend, who also has a birthday today, is about to get the other puppy- out comes her baby boy. She loves him already. Oprah makes her solemnly swaer to love and cherish and feed the little peanut for the rest of his life. The puppies will go back to the shelter for three more days to get their vaccinations, then they’ll go home. There are many no-kill shelters across the US, there is a list on Oprah.com. Happy Birthday everybody.

Oprah is sharing her birthday with 100 other people born on January 29th. Up in The Air is such a fantastic movie, George Clooney was so George Clooney. The movie reflects what is going on In America right now, it’s about job loss, disconnection and tough economic times, wrapped into a clever entertaining package. George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a man who makes his living traveling across the country firing people. Director Jason Reitman, who was nominated for an Oscar for Juno,  does a great job of capturing how people react when they lose their jobs. To capture the anguish of the 15 million people who are unemployed, Jason cast some  real live people who had just lost their jobs in the movie. Wow.

This is Jason Reitman’s thrd movie, he is being called brilliant, sophisticated, original… he likes those adjectives, thank you. Oprah asks if he’s enjoying the ride- of course. He’s made personal films, each a story that he wants to tell, all from his heart. It is very fulfilling to do these films so early in his career. He’s wanted to do movies his whole life. At the Toronto Film Festival, Jason says that no one was looking at George Clooney becasue Oprah was in the room. Oprah denies this. Oprah marvels that Jason wrote and directed this film- he started writing it 7 years ago. She asks how he knew, if he had a premonition. He was adapting a novel by Walter Curran and he thought he was making a movie about a single man, but over the course of writing it the world changed. He changed too, he became a husband and father, which had an enormous impact on the character. The economy went from an ecomonic boom to the worst recession on record, and the film began to reflect that. Two weeks ago Jason won a Golden Globe for the best screenplay and he gave the sweetest acceptance speech saying that George was one of the greatest men he’s ever met, his wife is the fuel to his creative fire to write women, and to his mother and father for making him the man and the storyteller he is. He worked with his Dad in the film and hopes to do that again. Oprah happens to be friends with Jason’s parents, and says she can only imagine what this means to his parents. His father is the legendary producer and director Ivan Reitman, the man behind Ghostbusters and Animal House and many other defining comedies of our time.  Working together was wonderful and unusual- you have to fgure out the new dynamic and seperate the father-son conversations from producer-director conversations;  sometimes the two crossed. Previously, as a pre-med student- he was scared of being a director- the presumption is if you are the son of a famous director that you usually have a drug problem and no talent. He figured he’d fail on a big, public  level and if he found success he’d be in his father’s shadow for his whole life. He chose medicine because no-one questions why you want to become a doctor. His father visited him and told him that being scared isn’t a reason to do anything. He persuaded Jason to go back to LA and pursue storytelling. In doing so he became the first Jewish father ever to say don’t be a doctor, be a film director.

Jason does like the title Director- it felt great the first time he was introduced as that. Oprah thought it was a brilliant touch to cast real life unemployed people in he movie. Three of the people in the movie are in the audience. The Chuck-e-Cheese line was said by  Lamorris, he made up his own lines because he’d just been laid off. Jason recognised early on that he didn’t have the life experience to get this authenticity. They reached out to people who’d just lost their jobs in the Detroit / St Louis area where they were filming. They’d interview them for  a few minutes then fire them on air so the person could say what they had said when they got fired, or what they’d wished they’d said on camera. Oprah asks if it was validating? They all say yes. Marlene was fired by letter after 27 years – she was lost, numb, going through the motions. After you process the news, you realise that your life changes in a day. It happened a week after the movie was being filmed at the airport. Arthur says he was a model employee, he had perfect attendance, and got along with everybody- he went through a double shocker. He believes Jason is a genius and he felt less like he was alone, this was a solid validation of the experience. He feels vindicated and appreciated. The world needs more Jason Reitmans and Oprah, people who care. When seeing the film, Arthur thought it was an opportunity for the world to see what he went through. This is more than a movie, it’s like a slice of reality at its best. Jason is embarrassed. He says it is a movie that is dramatic and comedic and is a mirror to George Clooney and a mirror to America. You’ll recognise what it is like to be a middle age person having a crisis, and you get to see George Clooney fall in love, which is nice. Oprah asks if it was shocking when Clooney came to the door? Jason says he wasn’t shocked because he wrote it, he saw it coming.

Jason thanks the three unemployed people for making his film real, for saying things he couldn’t write, for helping to make a film he couldn’t have made without them. The Chuck e Cheese line was heartbreaking and real, he would never have written it. They gave the actors a run for their money and changed his film. He thanks them. Oprah says everyone should go see the film, to appreciate it and be entertained.

Oprah is going to do everything she can to stop people texting and talking on the phone when driving because it is stupid. She has everything she needs for her birthday, what she wants is for the country to shift like we did with buckling up and designated drivers. Just yesterday, Oprah had an in-your-face intervention with an audience member. Two audience members got into  bad accidents texting, two totalled cars. Driving at 50 mph and texting; neither driver  has done it since.  One of the girl’s friends, Sarah, is addicted to her phone. Oprah tells her the way the universe works is this- first you get a  a whisper, then a tap on your head, then a brick, then a brick wall. This is Sarah’s brick wall. She says the  fact that Sarah is here and the people next to her got into accidents, means that Oprah would be very very frightened if she was her. She can’t get it any stronger, Oprah is in Sarah’s face. The producers follow Sarah home. Interviewed after the show, she says Oprah is a nice person but the confrontation was tough. They followed her home and had her watch the texting while driving show. She was shocked and heartbroken. The tragic real-life stories gave her alot to think about. The program made the thought a reality. Sarah is in the audience again 24 hours later. It has sunk in, she is lucky and grateful  that she has not had an accident yet. She goes on stage and signs the pledge. 266 people in the audience signed the pledge today. Sarah will keep her phone in her purse in the back seat of the car.

The headline in USA Today on Monday, was that the  states go after texting drivers- bus and truck drivers are now prohibited from texting while driving, bravo. Apparently the Oprah Show spoke to the Secretary of transport personally who said he signed the pledge at Oprah.com. Ali Wentworth, from the Oprah Winfrey Show admits she sometimes texts and always talks while driving. She pledges to make her car a no-phone zone. In footage, we see her put her phone in a tiny bed in the back of her Lexus and drive away. She’d usually check emails at stop lights- she says she is sweating a little and feels uncomfortable and wants cheese fries. But she works through it and shouts at texting drivers through a megaphone. She films people texting, people say they will stop and sign the pledge. Some say they are not texting but using GPS or saving a phone number. Ali is standing by, Oprah says it is difficult at first, it’s like breaking an addiction.

Ali is in DC and joins the show via Skype. Ali has not slipped in the last three days- a tip she recommends is to tell your children that they can scream if they see you pick up the phone. It works; she slipped up once and lost the hearing in her right ear. She wishes everyone a happy birthday and says she is excited that she and Oprah are now the same age. She holds up a piece of paper with the number 28 written on it. Everyone laughs. She has presents for the puppies, they are excellent collars from the store Bling for your Bitch. Oprah and Sarah talk about giving up using your phone in the car is like an addiction, Ali likens giving up her phone in the car to quitting smoking- she says listening  to satellite  radio or a book on tape can make the car time work for you.

Hugh Jackman sings Happy Birthday  for Oprah on video. Oprah holds a puppy and stands with the audience. All the audience is getting a free 2-night stay in a Hilton hotel anywhere in the world. The audience go wild and a cake is wheeled in with all the birthday names on it. Have a great day everybody and remember Oprah’s birthday wish; make your car a no-phone zone and take the pledge on Oprah.com

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

When you have everything you ever could wish for, two puppies and a mission to make the world a safer place will suffice for birthday presents.

Up In The Air is a dramatic, comedic, brilliant film mirroring both our times and George Clooney.

Texting while driving is still stupid, and Oprah is not afraid to get in the face of any offender.

Giving up using your phone is not unlike withdrawal from an addiction.

Hugh Jackman will have a glass of red wine in Oprah’s honor tonight.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Oprah’s birthday wish: sign the no-phone car-zone pledge, and get a puppy from a no-kill shelter.

Date: January 28th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment

Episode 15: Jay Leno: The Tonight Show Fiasco

Oprah goes to talk to Jay Leno. The late night controversy- Jay versus Conan has polarised America. It all started 5 years ago when Jay says NBC asked him to give up his#1 rated  show, to make room for Conan O’Brien to become host in 2009. Last May, Jay passed the show as planned, and NBC decided to keep Jay on the air and gave him the 10pm slot as the Jay Leno Show. When ratings slid for both shows, rumour had it that NBC was going to let the Jay Leno Show go, but then they came up wth a new plan. Move Jay to 11.35pm for a half hour show and move Conan’s hour to 12.05am. Jay accepted the offer and the war of the words began. In the end, Conan turned down the deal and took a $45 million buyout. Conan left last Friday and Jay is back to the Tonight Show as of March 1st.

Oprah asks Jay to go back 5 years, to when Jay was asked to leave the Tonight Show. He was in his office, when a  network executive came and asked him to leave in 5 years to make way for Conan, the upcoming star. There had been no discussion of passing over the show. As the #1 rated show, Jay did not think that he would be moved on. It broke Jay’s heart- this was the job that he’d always wanted and it was the only job that mattered to him. NBC wanted to announce it immediately- Jay Leno wanted the announcement to wait until they dropped to #2 at least. Conan’s contract was up and NBC didn’t want to loose him, so they wanted to move Jay on. Jay was devastated, the show was a tremendous success. Oprah asks what he planned to do in 2009? He says he told a white lie and said he’d retire, but he assumed that something else would turn up. The fly in the ointment was that they were #1 right until the day he went off the air. NBC made him leave 7 months before the contract was up so that he could not go elsewhere. He also had 175 people who worked for him. The best way to keep things smooth was the 10pm prime time idea, which NBC came up with in fall 2008- they had all the graphs and charts. Jay asked to keep his own staff, and NBC agreed. His option was to move to prime-time rather than move to another network. He knows his way around NBC and moving wasn’t appealing.

He feels messed around by NBC executives but he did it because it was an interesting challenge. Paradise is the ability to know you’re in it before you’re cast out of it- Jay feels that in both in his work and his marriage. They had a lot of great staff, it was a wonderful experience. Saying goodbye on the last night was tough. It was fun to watch his staff who all started out young and single, get married and have kids and that’s why they brought out the 65 kids on the stage. This was a family, a real one.

Last Friday night Conan left the Tonight Show after 7 short months and Jay Leno is going back to his old job. Americans are taking this seriously. Some are calling Jay selfish, and some are saying Conan can’t cut it. Jay thought Conan could do the show well, they were friends, this is a network decision. Only 6 or so people know how this feels, so you can only talk to them about it. Jay wished him well. Going to the prime time show did sort of make up for losing the Tonight Show, although it was unchartered territory. Late night he’d go up against Dave every night- if Oprah was on he knew that Dave would get the ratings, but otherwise Jay would get the viewers.  But to book against the CSI evil twin episode, was very hard. Other networks wanted them to fail so kept their stars away . It made it more difficult certainly. After his first night he was heralded as the future of television, yet 4 months later he was called TV’s biggest bomb. Jay thinks the show failed beause it was a late night talk show on at 10 o’clock. His ego wasn’t bruised but he felt bad for everyone on the show and for the affiliates. The odd thing was it made money for the network, but not the affiliates. Many people say that Jay being on prime time 5 nights a week took away jobs from millions. He hadn’t realised that until he was on the air. Jay says he was given enough time to build an audience. It is a TV show that got cancelled, and Jay is surprised that there is so much attention. He found it ludicrous that he’s been in the newspapers almost daily for the last 6 months about this, not an actual scandal. Oprah finds it fascinating that America has taken sides in this and alot of people are not on Leno’s side.  They think he has been selfish and taken the job from Conan. Jay says it all comes down to numbers. This is the perfect storm of bad things happening. Taking two hit shows and moving them both, what were the chances of them both doing badly? People think Leno pulled strings to make this happen. Jay’s show ratings were down 14% and Conan’s were down 49%. Leno wasn’t allowed out of his contract, despite being fired twice he was considered an asset. This time he was fired for poor ratings which Leno finds acceptable. They fired him and offered him half an hour and Conan on later for an hour. He said ok to 11.30-12.00. NBC were 75% sure Conan would agree. Oprah asks if he wanted to call Conan- Jay says that it wasn’t his place to call Conan. Next thing you know Conan’s article was in the paper, and that was that. Conan said he did not want to take the hour at 12.05. But then it got ugly.

Leno has made a living making jokes of other people during their hard times. However, he feels he was sucker-punched by Jimmy Kimmel- he didn’t know Jimmy was going to make jokes about Leno only having cars and $800 million, while Conan and Jimmy have kids. He hasn’t yet called Conan, he may when things calm down. He hasn’t been hurt by the jokes, it’s what they do. Like a fighter saying punches hurt- you can’t complain because it’s what you do. It all comes down to your conscience, a guilty conscience makes you feel bad and he never felt that. Oprah asks if he ever at any time considered that he was taking away Conan’s dream by going back?  No, because this was an affiliate decision, this was the first time in 60 years that the Tonight Show would lose money. It was a matter of dollars and sense. If the numbers had been there it wouldn’t have been an issue. And they only asked him to come back when Conan turned back moving the show back an hour. Oprah asked if no part of him thought enough already, I’ve already done it? Leno says he and Oprah will go down together, they will both work forever. She is making her decision that the Oprah Winfrey Show is done after 25 years. Leno says he believes that she believes it. She asks who he is without a television show that he’s done for 17 years. He says he lives on the money he makes as a stand-up comedian. He considers himself a stand up comedian because TV is so volatile that you never know if you have a job. His TV money he banks and he has a small foundation.

Do you feel any personal responsibility for Conan’s disappointment? No it had nothing to do with Leno. There’s always someone waiting in the wings. He thinks very much about rebuilding his audience at the Tonight Show, he’ll do it by doing the work and servicing the audience. If a joke works all over the US, then it will work on TV. There is a fine balance. Oprah asks if they lost that balance.  Even his audience was a little shocked when he made a crack at Letterman’s infidelity. Oprah thought it was beneath him. He thought one cheap shot deserves another. He does feel portrayed as the bad guy, which he feels is unfair. He says he is being likened to Roman Polanski, which is unfair. He hopes Conan gets a job elsewhere and the best man wins. Does his gut ever say that he should say no to the offers of going back? No. Although when he wanted to be out of his contract he would have taken his show elsewhere. He is looking forward to starting again on March 1st and rebuilding his audience. He does not feel responsible for Conan’s happiness. Anything that NBC did would have been better than this, from 2004 onwards this was a huge mess. Oprah asked what he expected? To cut the prime time show down to 2 or 3 nights a week would have been a solution. The Jay Leno Show took the focus of the stories about ratings; when they got cancelled the Tonight Show’s Ratings were under the radar.

They play Conan’s leaving speech saying that amazing things happen if you work hard and you’re kind and not cynical. Jay watched it and thinks he’s a good guy and a good comedian. Going back may be humbling, there is alot of work to be done,some damage control, and he should not be bitter or angry. Oprah asks if Leno was embarrassed – yes, it’s hugely embarrassing. How does his broken heart show itself to him? Does he go for a ride in one of his cars? He always thought he was doing the right thing, and yet so many people are upset,. Who wouldn’t have done what he did? Maybe he’s not a good guy, he thinks he’s a good guy. He asked himself daily if he was being selfish, and his answer is he doesn’t think so.  He thinks celebrities will come on his show, why would they refuse? Oprah says they are taking sides. He will work hard and try to be #1 again, it is like a marathon when you do the best you can. The experience has changed him becasue he can understand celebrities having rugh times.

Oprah wanted to do the interview because she thinks people don’t understand the way TV works. She could understand people calling Leno selfish if Leno owned the show, but he couldn’t steal the show because it wasn’t his to steal. He doesn’t want to own the show like he doesn’t want to be a landlord. He likes to be well-paid employee.

80,000 viewers replied to the  Oprah.com Jay vs Conan show poll, and 96% are on Conan’s side and 94% thought Jay shouldn’t go back to the Tonight Show. Oprah is surprised that so many people feel this way, that Jay stole Conan’s dream. Being retired seemed selfish to Jay- 175 people at work would all have to fend for themselves. As a team effort, as long as he’s working, they are working. Selfish, maybe, but the minute you can’t do the job, you get the tap on the shoulder to leave. He felt bad for Conan but he didn’t feel he was the reason, the reasons were the ratings. He has regrets but doesn’t know what he would do differently. Oprah says he could have walked away. Jay says that’s the ego decision, to leave everyone hanging. Oprah asks that he could have taken two years of money for him and his staff like Conan did. Jay says he could have done that, but he made a different decision. He would love to have Conan on his show, Conan will hopefully get a job on Fox or something and they’ll all compete again.

Back in the studio, Oprah has a cold and is sucking on a cough drop. Oprah thanks Jay. The Oprah show reached out but Conan’s people said it wasn’t the time for him to be on the Oprah Show. They will redo the poll on Oprah.com, and please take the no-phone pledge when you are online.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Paradise is the ability to know you’re in it before you’re cast out of it

It is a TV show that got cancelled, and even Jay Leno is surprised that there has been  so much attention paid to the matter.

Ultimately television is all about the ratings.

Jay Leno does not feel responsible for taking away Conan O’Brien’s dream

Maybe Leno is not a good guy, but he thinks he’s a good guy.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Jay Leno does not feel responsible for Conan’s disappointment; TV is ultimately all about the ratings

Date: January 26th, 2010
File Under: Betrayal, Celebrity, Family, Marriage, Relationships, Uncategorized

Episode 13: Denise Richards and Mrs Ted Haggard: Surviving a Public Scandal

Actress Denise Richard says she knows what you might think of her, she has been called all the names in the book. For the last five years she has just taken it – the stares, the comments, the speculation- and now she’s ready to speak her mind. At the time of her divorce she took the high road, she was advised to keep quiet, she hoped it would blow over and it didn’t- it escalated and got really, really bad.. She survived it and now she’s here to speak her piece, and to offer hope to any woman in her situation. Oprah clarifies that she means that literally, after all the anger and emotional struggle, Denise now has peace. Denise says she had so much emotional difficulties at the time that she would not have been able to talk about this while she was living it, but now she has distanced herself, and that she and Charlie are now in a great place.

Denise Richards was the beautiful Midwestern girl who set her sights on Hollywood. She became a Bond Girl, and 2 years later got together with Charlie Sheen. They were red capet regulars, but she filed for divorce when pregnant with her second child. The battle raged on for more than four years, with accusations of drugs, pornography and prostitutes, and allegations that she stole her best friend’s husband. Denies and Charlie have called a truce. But on Christmas morning in Aspen Colorado, Charlie’s wife of 20 months, Brooke, called police saying that he had  threatened her with a  knife. They have twin baby boys. Denise got a collect call on Christmas Day from jail, her first reaction was is he ok? He told her that he and Brooke had got into a fight and Brooke called the cops, but he wanted to say Merry Christmas to the girls, Sammy and Lola. He called again when he got out of jail. Oprah recalls that he threatened Denise, as written in the divorce documents. Denise takes a deep breath and says that he was abusive at times. She can’t lie- he was abusive and threatening – there were times with much verbal abuse, which got very scary. He never hit her but he would push or shove her. It’s public knowlege that she had a restraining order against him because of this. She told Charlie she was coming on the show, she told him she would be honest, but there are some things she won’t reveal. Does Denise think he has a problem with managing his temper and with the way he treats her and his current wife? Yes, says Denise. He has a very sharp tongue- he played on Denise’s insecurities, which she acknowledges that we all do in relationships . Oprah interrupts to say that it is interesting that Denise said he never hit her, and so many women use the “he never hit me” calling card yet they cower in intimidation and manipulation. Denise says it’s easy to judge when you are on the outside. Denise loved him, she wanted it to work- she doesn’t love him now, he’s not the person she married. She cares for him and would help him out if necessary because he is her daughters father. There were some very dark times, with humiliation, particularly when she filed the restraining order. She was scared, embarrassed, terrified. She didn’t have any inkling when they married that the relationship would be volatile. He was 3 years sober when they met, which she admired, she thought that his past was in the past. Did she feel put upon because alot of the press was labelling her as a golddigger and man-stealer, when he was being threatening and abusive? Denise says it was very, very difficult, and she hit rock-bottom. This is a sad situation, he now has two baby boys and they have a Dad in jail for Christmas, but perhaps people can understand what she went through. She’s not sure that she feels vindicated. As the show goes to commercial break, there is a written and spoken disclaimer that Charlie Sheen has repeatedly denied Denise Richards’ allegations of abuse.

This is Denise Richard’s first time speaking out since the Christmas arrest, but they have got to a good place together. Oprah asks how good that place will be after this show and Denise laughs and says it depends how much they talk about- she says they’ve gotten through worse with a lot of work. Their daughters did not ask to be born into a hostile situation- she and Charlie started to see  a mediator,- so to be able to have an early dinner together on New Year, is important for the kids who don’t deserve this stuff. Denise’s dad in the audience says it’s so frustrating- he respects his daughter for trying to makie it work but was angry at her for repeatedly going back. She kept going back because their oldest was 9 months and she was 6 months pregnant when she filed for divorce. She did it for the kids, she did not want this life for them. She was terrified for her own life. When she filed for divorce, they had had a very big argument, the next day he went to work and she packed a suitcase and took her 9 month old and went straight to an attorneys office. She was terrified and relieved that she had the strength to do it. When she heard he was remarrying, she had very much moved on- it was impossible to make her marriage work- she hopes he is different. Brooke is her daughters step-mom so she wants it to be a healthy relationship for everyone.

Oprah asks her how she felt when the tabloids called her a husband-stealer, what happened there? Richie was single when they were both going through their divorces. It started as a friendship, they leaned on each other and both had parents that were ill. Oprah asks if she knows the rule that the best friends husband is off limits rule, whatever the circumstances may be? Denise says that she was friends with Heather, but they weren’t best friends, and if they been friends then she would have never crosssed that line; Richie would have been off limits. The friendship was done, they weren’t friends anymore. She had mixed feelings, she was embarrassed and could feel the other mothers staring at her. Doing Mommy and Me and preschool runs was humiliating. She is now in a good place herself. Her 4 and 5 year old daughters are her pillars. Their favorite presents were their American Girl dolls- they were spoiled at Christmas. She did tell them about their Dad- a kid in kindergarten asked her 5 year old if her Daddy was still in jail. Oprah says theat kindergarten ain’t what it used to be. She asks if she is comfortable for Charlie to be with the girls, does she trust him? Denise says yes after a long pause. She says it’s up and down, a work in progress. Oprah asks if that means she didn’t trust him at some point; Denise says it was challenging. Many people said she was being manipulative and controlling, but she did what any parent in their right mind would have done. It is about the girls. Oprah asks if it’s his temper, what is it? Denise says it’s a combination of a lot of things, and Denise has always been about keeping the girls safe and healthy. Oprah says that Denise is not going to tell her what it is, as “a lot of things” is not an answer. Denise says she is starting to sweat. Oprah says Denise should only say what she feels comfortable with, but she wants Denise to know that it’s a lot isn’t an answer. Denise looks to her Dad and says everyone has read certain things, and that everyone must agree that some of those things are not appropriate for children. She can’t control Charlie or Brooke or what goes on in their home, but what she can control is the situation in her own home and keep her girls safe. Oprah leaves it at that because Denise is uncomfortable, but she says that all the things we read about prostitution, pornography and drugs are not appropriate for children. Oprah wishes Denise the best and thanks Denise for coming on the show. As the show goes to commercial break, a disclaimer says that Charlie Sheen denies that he threatened his wife Brooke with a knife, and that Brooke and Charlie want to work on their issues. He goes to trial in February.

It’s all too common; a well known, widely respected man is caught in a very public scandal, then steps forward and admits doing something wrong while his wife stands stoically by his side. Ted Haggard and his wife Gail were on the show last January after his shocking secret life was exposed – he was a powerhouse evangelist with 30 million followers, charismatic and influential, a rising star, until the sex scandal. On the show he said he wasn’t gay, but a heterosexual with homosexual attachments, as diagnosed by his first therapist. In 2006 a former male escort claimed a 3 year sexual relationship that included payment for sex and crystal meth. The details were sordid and humiliating. It was not an emotional relationship, it was strictly for sex. Ted initially denied everything, he said he never did drugs nor did he have a gay relationship, ever. Gail initially believed him but the story began to fall apart. He admitted that he called the other man for meth, for himself, but never used it. He eventually admitted to using drugs and sexual immorality. He said to Gail that he was toxic, so poisonous, that she should divorce him. Why did she stay? Gail is here and has written a new book called Why I Stayed.

Oprah read it last night and then this morning had an epiphany; she decided to approach this interview with no judgement; judge not lest ye be judged. Her conclusion is that Gail loves this man in a way that Oprah has never loved, Oprah is independent and has always made her own decisions and can’t therefore imagine ever being in the situation where someone could betray her and she would stay. It is unimaginable to her, yet Oprah can see that coming where Gail came from, Oprah can see how Gail could do it.

Gail is glad that Oprah doesn’t want to judge her- she would say that she is strong and independent and that these were her choices. She felt that the betrayal could lead to greater strength. On page 108 of her book, Gail asks if the fault lays with her- was she not enough, not attractive , not fun, not sexually satisfying enough? Gail says that most women would ask herself those questions when faced with infidelity , would ask if they failed somehow, would ask what’s wrong with me? Gail asked herself those questions then asked Ted those questions. He answered that this was his problem, not hers, and that she was enough. Oprah asks if this would be the same if the infidelities were with women? That for some women it’s easier if the man was gay. Gail says the dynamics were different, another woman would make her feel that she definitely wasn’t enough; it raises a whole different set of challenges. Oprah says another man means there’s nothing you can do about it, which can make it easier. Gail thinks that the whole woman thing would have been different challenges, but the same principles.

Oprah asks for clarification; knowing that her husband had had relationships with men in the past, why did Gail believe him when he denied a relationship? Gail says she really did believe it becasue she was too naive, there were hints. After Jonathan, their special needs son was born, Ted came to her and said that there had been an incident the previous year that he needed to share. It involved another man, it wasn’t a sexual relationship, but it was a somewhat sexual encounter that had happened when he was a graduate student in a bookstore in another city. He determined to get out of grad school and never go back, and went to see a counselor that day. He carried so much guilt that he didn’t reveal the incident for a year, a year and a half. Oprah asks if the admission of an encounter of any kind plants the seed  that he is interested in men. Yes, it did. This happened over 25 years ago. Gail understands that we all have struggles and weaknesses in our life- but if she heard that now it would have  been a huge sign for her. Then she was naive to the gravity of the situation. She wanted to deal with it and believed that he had dealt with it, and that was why she was so staggered when the situation came out.

Its been just over 3 years since Ted Haggard was brought down by a gay sex scandal. Ted joins us. Gail writes on page 67 of the day she decided to stay in the marriage. Ted reached out for her in bed, and her heart broke, and she began her journey of choosing to love. Ted, literally, cried when he read that. He realised that so many others would have withdrawn, justifiably so, and maybe just put him out. Oprah asks her what made her choose- it was the first night that he had confessed that parts of the allegations were true. Ted was already in bed, when she slowly went to bed. Oprah is outraged that he was in the bed, that he was allowed to be there, and that Gail went to join him. Ted says that’s why the book is so incredible, to see Gail making so many choices to keep there family together.  Gail clarifies that she had a sense of betrayal and had a sense of revulsion, but she fell back on what mattered in her marriage, the things she believed about her husband. It was a secret, she hates secrets, it was very painful for her; she wanted to know the truth and know her husband. But she knows what kind of man he is, the good that he’s done and the wonderful parts of their marriage. and she’s not willing to let go of that. Sharing her epiphany, Oprah says to Ted that Gail really loves her. Ted says yes she really loves him, this woman is deeply infatuated with him, she loves him, which is an incredible thing. Gail says its more than infatuation, she really loves him. Ted says its incredible for a woman to love a man the way Gail loves him, he doesn’t deserve it, it’s a gift she has given him, and that he is so grateful.

Oprah asks Gail if she trusts him as much as she loves him? Gail says this is her answer: Rebuilding trust, she had the confidence that he was faithful to her, and that she could believe what he said. Ted felt that when the scandal happened it became his responsibility to do  things so she could trust him. He took lie detector tests, he’s super accountable, he calls her constantly. He makes sure she has no doubt about where he is, so that Gail can deal with her fears reasonably. He makes it his resonsibility, he doesn’t expect blind trust. The rules he lives by are

1 He answers everything. He Tweets and Facebook’s his schedule for Gail and the public.

2. If he goes anywhere alone, he calls Gail when he gets there and when he leaves, and informs her of any adjustments of schedule

He says he stepped up and decided to do this, rather than have rules imposed by Gail, which would feel very different. He’ll mask it by asking if she wants anything from the grocery store as he’s leaving, so it doesn’t feel like checking in with his parole officer. He realises he also violated his children’s trust. If he travels and Gail can’t go, for whatever reason, something like the children or whatever, then he stays in the pastor’s home, not in a hotel. No one imposed that on him, he does it himself, it’s not a contract or anything like that. Oprah asks if he does it so that he can be trusted by them or if he doesn’t trust himself? Ted says that always when people have been in any behaviour like that, there is a chance of a problem. Ted trusts himself but step number 1 in the 12 step program encourages us to never think that we are immune. Oprah asks if the 12-step program got him through this process? He says it helped, and he’s still in counselling for other (non-sexual) issues, other things. The biggest thing that helped him was therapy, since that time he’s not had one compulsive thought or behaviour. Oprah asks if he feels he’s heterosexual and he says oh yeah, we have a lot of evidence. He laughs, Gail doesn’t. Oprah asks, and he clarifies that he no longer has any homosexual issues.

Oprah asks Gail what if he comes to her and says he’s slipped up? Gail says it’s a day she hopes never happens, but realistically she has to be prepared for that. She thinks her heart is not ready for that at this point, but she believes that the principles that got her through before could get her through again. Oprah asks if the marriage is stronger and better; Gail says absolutely. Gail loves him more now after they’ve  walked through these difficulties together and she knows his weaknesses. Before she felt she couldn’t get close enough to him, there was a wall she couldn’t get past, and once they started this process, once the huge lights were shining on her husband  they were able to get behind the wall and walk through that and that gave her more love for Ted. Gail’s book is out today, thank you Gail, thank you Ted.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Despite denials, Charlie Sheen is most likely threatening and abusive

Most people would agree that drugs, pornography and prostitutes are not appropriate for children

If Gail Haggard’s husband had been unfaithful with women, there would have been different challenges, but the same principles of recovery.

To avoid all trust issues with oneself and others, stay in the pastor’s house rather than a hotel.

Therapy can work to reverse all homosexual impulses and feelings.

A VERY CONCISE SUMMARY:

Drugs and sexual immorality can lead to a stronger, better marriage with more love.

Date: January 25th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment, Family, Marriage, Relationships
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Episode 12: Rosie O’Donnell: Life After The Breakup and Her New Love

It’s been a long time since the Oprah Winfrey Show has heard from Rosie, come on out. They hug. Oprah admires her hair, and Rosie says she had to do the menopause cut at the back… she cut the underneath of her hair to avoid the thick-hair-sweat issue. They are both angry that no-one told them about menopause, about how it would be- Rosie hit menopause at 41, Oprah at 50. Suzanne Sommers called Rosie after seeing her on the show and advised her to take bio-identical hormones, and it changed her whole life. She doesn’t do everything Suzanne does, not 7 million pills and a shot in the vajayjay- Rosie takes a prescription cream. For a while she had a brillo moustache from the progesterone- she became The Lunch Lady, who didn’t remove it because she couldn’t see it. She feels alot better and younger now- Oprah interrupts to say that’s a topic for a whole new show.

It’s been 13 years since she was last on the show, but she did call Oprah once at 2 in the morning, crying after Columbine saying that they have to form a union to save the children of the world. Oprah was so good, telling her to breathe. Oprah realised that that tragedy affected different people in different ways. Rosie says when she first started her show she had a delusion of fame that the power of fame could stop bad things from happening- she felt she could get the other superhero media women together to change things, to make the world a better place. Rosie says that Oprah plays a central role in the movie of Rosie’s life, but Oprah doesn’t realise that she’s cast in it.

Oprah asks where Rosie has been the last couple of years, and Rosie says she’s been at home trying to figure out what to do with the second part of her life. Her mother died at age 40, so Rosie spent her whole life thinking she would only live to be 40. Her goal was to do everything she could by 40 then retire and wait to be told she was going to die. And yet every year her mammogram is clear. Rosie got divorced, although she and Kelly were in the first group to be married and it was annulled so they didn’t need a divorce as such. Rosie says that a lesbian divorce is a different paprdigm- the emotional connection remains. Every woman but one of Rosie’s past relationships is still in her life. They prioritise looking after the kids, they are the focus, that is what it is about. Oprah asks why they broke up. Rosie says that what they wanted and and needed at 30/ 35 and 40/ 45 changed. They did not grow apart, they both came back to being their authentic selves. When they met they were very wrapped up in their careers, and fame. For the last two years, she was at home painting and spending alot of time alone. She took her show as a job, with the aim of being at home with her children. She finds it impossible that fame doesn’t corrupt people, it is a toxic drug. Oprah agrees that it is a drug, but says that she hasn’t been drugged by it. Rosie didn’t realise until she was done with her show. She did alot of charity work, and her son asked why she didn’t stay home and take care of them instead of running out to compulsively raise money for charity. Oprah says that in the last 5 years, fame has become an obsession. Rosie agrees that as a nation we have become obsessed with fame, so that trivial news such as who she’s dating can be a headline on CNN.

Video footage shows Rosie’s guesthouse in New York state, where she has made a radio studio, The best part of her gig is that she can wear pajamas. She does a radio show with her kids. Back in the studio, Oprah says Rosie has a new radio show and an HBO documentary about families. Oprah asks what she has learned from her kids now, the oldest of whom is 14. Rosie said she has had to learn alot lately, especially with the idea of co-parenting, Her whole life she has wanted to be a mother, a full-time mother. They co-parent and spend equal time together with the kids. The kids are free-flowing, some are always here and there. Kelly lives close by, but not quite in the same town. One night when she was crying, her son said calm down mom, I’ll always be your son, no matter where I am. Rosie always wanted to be a family with a mom who stayed. She could do the things she could only dream of as a child- provide matching socks, clean underwear. She was raised with love, compassion and grace by  a community of women with no blood relation- the neighbor women. Sadly her mother’s death was never talked about- Rosie never said out loud that her mother died until she was at college. Oprah is sure that affected her – Rosie says she’s almost annoying to her kids by asking what are you feeling? Should we talk? She wants her kids to remember that family is forever, change is inevitable and you can always survive it, that you can survive unexpected huge challenges. She hopes to teach them by doing it herself; that there is always something new in the future and you don’t now what that might be, but it has the potential for tremendous joy and to remember what was without the pain of what it is not now.

Despite the divorce, they do all the monumental events together- first day at school, the red carpet… The documentary is about family, and truth is what works for her and her family. She has been working for the last 2 years on “A Family is a Family, is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration of Love”, an HBO documentary. They play an extract from the documentary, Rosie is talking with her daughter, about how a family is forever and family is love. Oprah asks why Rosie wanted to make that documentary? She says that she had been a rolemodel for the gay/ lesbian community, and she wanted to be honest in this documentary- gay families are just like other families, and divorce happens. It’s been the most painful experience of her adult life.

Rosie started in stand-up, then became most famous in her 6 year stint hosting the Rosie O’Donnell Show starting in 1996 , where she got 11 Emmy’s. She quit to spend more time with her family, then in 2006 returned to daytime television as a co-host on The View. Ratings soared and so did the controversy. It all came to a head with a heated political debate with co-host Elizabeth Hasselback. They’d had a friendship and it didn’t ring true. Rosie decided she’d had enough. Rosie asked Elizabeth how she felt about her comrades on Fox, where Hasselback is a commentator, calling Rosie un-American and saying she didn’t care about the troops. Elizabeth said she wasn’t going to defend her. Rosie said they were friends, and that Elizabeth had been to her house, and that what viewers saw were her hurt feelings and betrayal. Oprah asks if that’s why she didn’t come back- Rosie says that the producers had pre-prepared a split-screen. Rosie knew that and felt that she had been manipulated. She doesn’t feel that the best use of her talent is arguing and fighting. Living legend Barbara Walters was the person who’s show it was, it was not Rosie’s show. They play a clip of Barbara Walter’s on the Oprah Show, saying Rosie is loving and wonderful but had a moment of pure rage in the dressing room once that she didn’t want to talk about.

Oprah had read in Rosie’s Book, Celebrity Detox, about the incident. Rosie had made fun of Donald Trump’s hair. Oprah reads from the book saying that if Rosie stands up after a confrontation, it is because her rage is too big for her body. Rosie  says she stood up,  said a lot of terrible things and regretfully she says she scared Barbara Walters. Rosie regrets that moment because no one speaks to Barbara that way. They liken Walters to the queen; Oprah says she is the queen. Rosie was demanding an emotional connection.They think that maybe Rosie was projecting stuff onto her; Rosie says she didn’t think Barbara was her mother, but anyone in that age range, she has reverence for. Rosie was hurt because she felt Barbara should have come to her defense and she didn’t. Rosie tries to teach her children, her 12 year old, what are you feeling? She tries to show her children what their feelings are. If she had been braver, at that moment she would have just cried. Oprah says that is so interesting- when crying is so often perceived as the weak thing to do, why does Rosie say it would be braver? Because it would have been authentic, the true feeling . Rosie’s armour is to stand up and shout. She did go home and cried, alot. Kelly would say to her that she has to get her feelings under control. She is lucky that in her business she can express those emotions but sometimes she gets overwhelmed. Oprah asks how it healed her, the process. Rosie says you get to face yourself over and over, that you evolve and at some point the stories have to change. There are so many stories; by telling the same one over and over you define yourself in the past. What has healed Rosie is a willingness to step out of her history and into her present. Now she can live more authentically, she can speak without putting her guard up.

Rosie’s video blog has quite a following. That’s how she met Tracy- she wrote on the blog asking if she wanted to trade art. Rosie looked her up, she’s an artist and a  single lesbian mom of 6 – 5 adopted from foster care and 1 she birthed with down syndrome. She’s a doula, surfer, gardener, recycler, works for gay foster care rights… Rosie wrote to her and asked if she was for real or a joke. She was the perfect match for Rosie’s wants. Her big heart appealed to Rosie. Rosie invited her to Miami, she didn’t even know if it was a date. They had never spoken, nor had she seen her. Tracy got out of the car and Rosie said zoinks, because she is absolutely gorgeous. They are moving to live together, they are going to blend the families. Rosie says her kids know her. When she told her oldest about Tracy, he said it sounds pretty perfect. Rosie is very happy, and it’s not that Kelly made her unhappy, it’s just that they wanted different things at different times.

Oprah asks her to reveal something that she’s never revealed. Rosie says that’s hard, that she tends to tell everything, almost too much- in her book she says she told how she used to self-injure as a child. That’s a tough thing to say, but a important one. She understands how you feel the need to make a physical pain to override the emotional pain. Right now, her secret, she is not wearing underpants.

Oprah asks if Rosie has healed some of the rage? Yes, but it took a long time and self acceptance and understanding that you can choose to see the  glass as half empty or half full. Whenever she teaches that lesson to her kids, she relearns  it for herself. Oprah advises every family to watch the family documentary on HBO on January 31st. Oprah and Rosie both have a radio series on Sirius FM; Rosie bought a Sirius radio or everyone in the audience. The audience  go wild. Goodbye everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Menopausal hot-sweat discomfort for those with thick hair can be eased with the right haircut.

Fame corrupts. Fame is a toxic drug.

Family is forever, change is inevitable and you can always survive it,  you can survive unexpected huge challenges

There is always something new in the future and you don’t know now what that might be, but it has the potential for tremendous joy, without the pain of the present.

Crying is not weak; it is brave, authentic and true.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

What has healed Rosie is a willingness to step out of her history and into her present

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