First it was Tom Cruise. Then it was Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Then it was Tom Cruise again. And now it’s Oprah?
The world’s most influential woman, and by that I mean Oprah, not Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, found a need to defend her sexuality this month when she addressed hair saloon rumors that she and her best friend Gayle King are lesbian lovers. In the August issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, the reigning daytime TV queen and media mogul said some people misunderstand her close friendship of 30 years with Gayle King, an editor of the magazine and Oprah’s longtime confidant and BFF.
“I understand why people think we're gay,” says Oprah in O magazine and in an accompanying article online. “There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it—how can you be this close without it being sexual? How else can you explain a level of intimacy where someone always loves you, always respects you, admires you?”
According to Gayle, the while the rumors used to bother her, they don’t anymore.
“I used to say, 'Oprah, you have to do something. It's hard enough for me to get a date on a Saturday night. You've got to go on the air and stop it!.' And then you realize you really can't stop it. And, you know, somebody made a good point: Well, every time we see you, you're together, which is true.”
In the article, the dynamic duo, who often appear side by side on Oprah’s shows, tackle their 30-year friendship and their "four-times-a-day phone calls." They also say they would be totally open about taking about their intimate relationship, if they had one.
"The truth is, if we were gay, we would tell you, because there's nothing wrong with being gay," says King, who is divorced and has two children. Oprah, who has the highest rated talk show in television history and is considered by Forbes to the richest African American of the 20th century, has never married. Most people believe Oprah has been living with beau Stedman Grahm, who she does talk about on her show, for nearly 20 years. Earlier this year, she admitted her past dating card featured movie critic Roger Ebert.
Still we should really leave her alone. As arrogant as she can be, she has helped a lot of people and she has plenty of other things to worry about, like say her almond and water diet.
Article comments
1 - Jessica
That's so funny, I read the same interview yesterday. Poor Oprah! Everyone knows she wants Jamie Foxx!
2 - Chris Evans
I love Oprah and her show--I just wish she would stop being so up celebrities' asses, and stop throwing it in our faces that she's up their asses.
"So I was eating dinner at JULIA ROBERTS' house last week and we were talking about...etc."
3 - nance
LOL...she is very arrogant.
I worked with her on a movie and she wouldnt give me the time of day.....and not to mention no on screen credit for any of the locals. God Forbid we should want any recognition or validation..how ironic is that the Queen of I NEED TO BE VALIDATED blows me off...Me..who I admits was Someone who so horribly needed it at the time and who was a fan of hers since the 80's when she was a lowly News girl in Baltimore. Life is one big joke.
4 - reggie von woic
no celebrity, no matter how good or principled they are, doesn't get negative criticism.
if we're capable of dismissing the pope as the antichrist, there's nothing we can't say about anyone.
5 - Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem
Oprah is having fun being Oprah and I love to see a successful woman enjoying her success. I also find it amusing that so many people have to sexualize every close relationship as if there aren't other ways to be intimate - intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical closeness are all possible without being sexualized.
6 - K
I cannot believe America does not have anything more important to talk about then to spread rumors about Oprah. I have a friend that we are so close. We live 1 1/2 hours apart and every other weekend I go to see her. I lived with her former husband; when he died we picked up right where we had left off 8 months prior. Does that make us leisbians? We believe we may have a lover soulmate; why cannot we have a friendship soulmate? I now how Oprah feels about Gail, her bestfriend because I feel the same way about my bestfriend. God gave me a special gift when he gave me my bestfriend. She never judges, she forgives, she understands, she finishes my sentences. We can talk on the internet and know if the comment was meant in sadness, sarcasim, with a touch of snippiness, or empathy; we never ask what did you mean by that. For those that have nothing else to do with your time; turn off the t.v., get up off the couch, and take a walk or read or anything else. Treat others as they would want to be treated not as you would want to be treated. Respect others and do not try to slander their name.
7 - Taylor
Oprah and Gayle are simply the best of friends and the friendship they have holds a strong bond of love between the two , they have alot of history together. I can't blame them for cherishing the friendship they have...it's worth more than wealth untold!
8 - Mia
To respond to Jamie foxx and Oprah comment...Jamie stated on a local broadcast network in july of this yr that he still has a strong attraction for Oprah and that he still considers her to be in his future if she would have him to settle down with...sounds as if he really cares for her...i guess we will she I really admire and love Oprah, she is such an inspiration to woman all over the world. I'm quite sure she is not in the least worried or concerned about what others think of her and Gayles friendship, as long as they know what their friendship means to each other that's all that matters.
9 - briana
i love oprah.!!!!!
Oprah Winfrey came from a bad background to become one of
America's most influential women. Winfrey has a great attitude and a great fortune through her media and publishing interests and uses her famous wealth and gives to lives of people in need. Oprah has been ranked one of the richest African American of the 20th century, and also she is an influential book critic, and an academy award nominated actress, and a magazine publisher.
Oprah was born January 29, 1954 in Mississippi. When Oprah was little her parents were separated and she was sent away to live with her grandparents, which was a poor city. Until age 6 she moved back in with her mother. Oprah then was sexually molested by some male relatives. Oprah was a brave little girl. At the age 14 she moved in with her father, he lived In Nashville Tennessee.
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential women that are alive today. Oprah is influential because she is always open to the audience and that audience is open to her. Winfrey does not let her race affect theses goal. Oprah has been so influential in American society because she has been able to talk to all different kinds of people, not just blacks, and not just women.
Oprah is a great woman. She has such a great attitude towards everything. She also is getting 200,000 dollars a year for making one show. Oprah gives people her wealth to people that must need it. She doesn't care if the money is going to a bad cause, because in the end she is helping people that need it the must. She is a very successful lady, and she has made a big impacted on people's lives.
Winfrey is known in the US as a national hero, because she has been back and forth for people that need help. She has grown up to be very brave, successful, and the most influential women in the world.
10 - masego
Being able to have a great friendship like Oprah & Gayle is truly amazing. To have someone that accepts you and shares in your successes without feeling like they are in your shadow that is something very rare to find. We all should learn a thing or two from their friendship.
11 - Lourdes
I have heard Oprah "is gay" for years however, I also have been watching oprah since I was very young and she has not hidden anything about herself ever. IF she were gay we would surely know by now, she would have told the world on her show...theres nothing wrong with being close to a woman who is your friend and confidante for so many years without sleeping together. My daughter told me once that she thought I was sleeping with my friend of 20+ years Diana, I explained that I was not and that I am a lesbian but who I am sleeping with was none of her business. I did however say that I was saving myself for someone wonderful...found her in 2003 and have been married for last four years :)
leave oprah alone.....dont you have anything else to do?
Hey OPRAH how about you interview Kitty Kelley?????
12 - Enze
She's not gay. If Oprah could get the kind of press that's waiting for an admission that she gay, she would have come flying out of the closet.
Her life is pretty much an open book. So, gay, no. And why is it when two decent looking women are close friends and there's no guy around, they automatically have to be gay. Couldn't they just be BFFs?