Oprah Winfrey has been hailed as one of the most influential women in the world. Her show was broadcast in over 130 countries, her magazine is still one of the best-selling magazines on the shelves, and her production company Harpo is worth 150 million dollars. In her heyday, appearing as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show was a ticket to fame. Her show gave a voice to so many. But not everyone jived well with the talk show queen. There have been an unlucky few to encounter the wrong side of Ms. Winfrey. And here they are.
Jonathan Franzen
As an avid reader and advocate for books, Oprah created the Oprah Book Club. The book club has been responsible for the success of some of today's novelists. While most writers would only dream of that kind of publicity, Jonathan Franzen seemed to only express discomfort over the fact that his book was selected , saying, "she's picked enough schmaltzy, one-dimensional ones that I cringe." Needless to say, she revoked her pick and uninvited him to her show. He has since expressed regret.
James Frey
Another Oprah book club selection gone awry. This time it was James Frey who was exposed as a fraud for the partial fabrication of his memoir "A Million Little Pieces." Oprah was humiliated for featuring the book on her show, which though her endorsement, resulted in the selling of 4 million copies. Oprah felt completely duped and even called him back for a confrontation.
David Letterman
It all started in 1995 when Letterman made the infamous "Oprah, Uma; Uma, Oprah" joke in which he introduced Winfrey to Uma Thurman. It was "funny" because of their names. From then on Letterman kept the gag running, turning it into a whole fabricated showbiz feud. While it essentially starred from nothing, the constant bating started to get Oprah's back up. Thankfully in 2005, they sat down and talked it out.