Oprah Winfrey Archive for Celebritology - Liz Kelly's Celebrity Blog -- A Guide to Celebrity and Entertainment News

Oprah -- Hazardous to Your Health?

Paging Dr. Oprah? (Getty Images) I thought inflicting Dr. Phil on us was bad, but according to Newsweek the throngs of Oprah-faithful could be endangering their health by taking her medical advice. In a new story, Newsweek blasts the world's second most influential celebrity for putting her stamp of approval on "questionable treatments" for everything from menopause to autism and breast cancer. The take down starts with a recounting of Susan Somers's visit to "Oprah" in which she described her regimen of 60+ vitamins a day and non-FDA "bioidentical" hormone replacement therapy. And although Oprah had docs on hand to question some of Somers's claims, she described the one-time "Three's Company" star as "a pioneer." The article goes on to cite Oprah's seeming support for everything from Jenny McCarthy's take on autism (she's in the vaccine causation camp) to one doc's recommendation to avoid the HPV shot in favor...

The Oprah-fication of America

Oprah's on! And on and on and on... (Getty Images) Okay, we've talked about Oprah Winfrey here before. And either you people are humoring my distaste for the doyenne of daytime or the average Celebritology reader is so far out of the mainstream you'd send Bobby Trendy into cardiac arrest. What has inspired my doubt, you ask? The continued creep of Winfrey's influence into popular culture. Someone -- a lot of someones -- it seems, is watching, emulating, buying. How else to explain O's unchecked sprawl into TV, satellite radio, film, magazines, books, Broadway and politics? The latest front in this woman's seemingly unstoppable ubiquity is cable television. Discovery networks yesterday announced the creation of OWN -- the Oprah Winfrey Network, set to launch next year in approximately 70 million homes in America. From the AP story: Winfrey envisions the programming dealing with issues such as money, health, weight,...

Highbrow: Weighing the Oprah Effect on Politics

Barack Obama and wife Michelle (left) with Oprah at an August Fundraiser. (Reuters) "My money isn't going to make any difference," Oprah Winfrey told Larry King prior to an August fundraising party where the daytime talk show queen helped to raise $3 million for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. "My value to him, my support of him is probably worth more than any other check that I could write." Last week, Winfrey formally declared her intention to hit the campaign trail in support of Obama. First in Iowa, then New Hampshire and South Carolina -- all key states early in the election run-up. Mused The Post's own Gene Robinson: "Now we're about to see whether the "Oprah effect" can do for Barack Obama what it did for Leo Tolstoy." If Yahoo stats are any indicator, the Oprah factor may already be moving the needle for Obama. Searches on the...

An Oprah-Induced Pre-Holiday Hangover

Last November, Oprah Winfrey scrapped her annual "Favorite Things" show in favor of promoting charitable works. Saying she wanted audience members to feel the magic of giving, Winfrey gave each audience member $1,000 to donate to the charity of one's choice. That was then, this is now. Yesterday, Oprah released the 2007 "Favorite Things" list meaning we need no longer fear braving the retail fray without a roadmap again. Instead, we'll descend on our local big box retailers (as early as midnight Thursday in some cases) en masse and armed with an Oprah-sanctioned list of camcorders (O likes the $799 Samsung), kitchen gadgets (if a $4,000 fridge is a gadget), boots (nothing but Uggs for Oprah) and this troubling ensemble that resembles nothing so much as some kind of Oprah cult uniform (handbook not included). Not on the list? $20,000 worth of designer shoes (sorry Jessica Seinfeld). Bah, humbug. Here's...

Love to Hate: Oprah's Shoe Fetish

I have not been an Oprah Winfrey fan for years. I think she's self-absorbed, disconnected from reality and holds way too much sway over the minds and tastes of her target demographic. So, my disgust wasn't too difficult to summon when I saw this story about Jessica Seinfeld's $15,000 thank you note to Oprah. Seinfeld -- wife of Jerry -- appeared on Oprah's show last week to promote her new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious." With the book now comfortably perched on the bestseller list, Mrs. Seinfeld sent Oprah a thank you gift of what is estimated to be $15,000 to $20,000 worth of shoes. Here's a look, along with a peek in Oprah's closet: Yes, Jessica is undeniably guilty of Gilded Age behavior here; I expect a velvet-liveried monkey delivered the gift on a recommissioned Concord. But by sharing a glimpse of Seinfeld's largesse with her audience -- along with a...

From the desk of Oprah Winfrey...

(AP) Dear Barbara, The enclosed photo is not one of my favorite things. Why? It's not because of the satanic robe/drapery with which you've obscured your rapidly shrinking frame. It's not even because I'm afraid your proximity will somehow taint me with "View" stank. It is because you are squeezing my cheeks in a highly annoying manner. In short, don't ever touch me again. I don't care if you've interviewed Castro, no one touches O. Except maybe Gayle Stedman, but trust me, there is no photographic evidence. - Oprah p.s. Rosie is doing a fab job....