When Oprah Winfrey said that Barack Obama's acceptance speech was "the most powerful thing I've ever experienced" she meant it. She wanted to give him an exceptional gift suitable for a presidential candidate and she turned to a private dealer who specialized in historical items. Price didn't matter and Oprah found the perfect gift for Barack - she gave him a rare and highly collectible fountain pen that belonged to JFK.
When we heard that Tom Cruise was planning a big two part appearance on Oprah's show again - we didn't believe for a minute the flimsy excuse for the event. Supposedly it's to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Tom's movie "Risky Business." As if anyone cares about that! We think the truth is that Tom is furious with Oprah for getting on the Eckhart Tolle bandwagon and promoting his book "A New Earth." Tom reasons "Why isn't she promoting L Ron Hubbard's self improvement book "Dianetics?" After seeing what Oprah has done for Tolle's popularity, Tom is scheming to introduce Oprah to Scientology in a positive way. Recruiting Oprah would be a like catching the biggest fish of all time. Oprah makes the Beckhams look like small potatoes. We don't think she'll bite, do you?
Oprah Winfrey has tumbled from five years straight of being rated the most popular TV star - down to number 2. She was knocked off her pedestal by none other than Ellen DeGeneres! Publicist Michael Levine pointed out to us that some organization called The Harris Poll has released the following top ten list of popular TV stars:
1 Ellen DeGeneres
2 Oprah
3 Jay Leno
4 Hugh Laurie (House)
5 Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
6 Dave Letterman tied with Stephen Colbert
8 Bill O'Reilly
9 Ray Romano tied with Homer Simpson
Apparently talk show hosts RULE as far as fame and popularity on TV goes. Tyra Banks must be STEAMING because she didn't make the list. Ellen was #8 last year - we're wondering if her meltdown over the Iggy incident gave her a boost. And could Oprah's political involvement have cooled her fans?
Is Oprah surreptitiously giving Barack Obama a mini-makeover? She's doing everything she can to make him appealing to voters - and that includes turning him on to her longtime hairdresser Andre Walker.. Walker is responsible for Oprah's much admired parade of hairstyles through the years. Oprah sent Barack to Andre for color and cut. Walker is reportedly "minimizing" Barack's gray hair - which is odd because some people complain that he's too young to be president.
Halle Berry's offspring will certainly start out as one of the luckiest babies in the world. First of all, the kid has gorgeous parents - dad's a Versace model and mom's a movie star. To top it off, Halle has asked Oprah Winfrey be the baby's godmother and she said YES. Can you imagine what it will be like at Christmas and birthdays for this child? Oprah is famous for her generosity and we're betting this kid will need a gigantic toy box.
Oprah Winfrey is so confident that her chosen political candidate, Barack Obama, will end up in the white house in 2008 that she's already shopping for a town house in Washington, D.C. Obama is actually the first candidate she has ever endorsed and last month she raised 3 million dollars at a fund raiser at her Montecito home. Ironically, Oprah was named in a Gallup poll as the second most influential woman in the US - number one is Obama's competition Hilary Clinton. Oprah is hunting for the perfect greystone in D.C. and she's looking forward to an active social life there.
We've had just about enough of Denise Brown's high and mighty attitude toward Fred Goldman. The late Nicole Simpson's sister Denise refused to appear on Oprah in the same segment as Fred in protest of Goldman's publishing of OJ's book "If I Did It." Denise called it "blood money!" In fact Fred Goldman has worked tirelessly through the years (and spent a FORTUNE on lawyers) to punish OJ Simpson for murdering his son Ron, in the ONLY way he could - financially. OJ mocked Fred's attempts to collect on a 38 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit. FINALLY, Fred got his hands on OJ's book and he knows it will infuriate the killer when the Goldmans collect the proceeds. (What Denise really doesn't like is the way her sister Nicole is portrayed by OJ in the book. It IS a shame, but we've heard all those nasty accusations before.) Denise is trying to make Fred look like a villain and he's NOT. She called for a boycott of the book - but it's selling like crazy. And we're HAPPY for the Goldmans. As for Denise - who is she to complain about blood money? For several years straight Fox's Roger Friedman reported that DENISE was the MAIN beneficiary of the Nicole Brown Simpson charity.
Oprah's dogs are inheriting MORE than just 30 million dollars from their adoring owner. Sure, Leona Helmsley's dog has 18 million, but Oprah had made provisions to be SURE her five dogs and assorted pets live happily ever after if she expires first. The dogs travel everywhere with Oprah and she has noted that they have more fun at her Maui house than anywhere else. There's lots of space to run and play. So, after she's gone, Oprah has arranged to have the Maui house maintained by employees, and the animals can live there in style for the rest of their lives.
We weren't sorry to learn that blowhard Dr Phil's talk show is as good as cancelled. Our inside souce swears that unless a miracle happens, the show is history. We remember when Oprah introduced Dr Phil with great fanfare and she made him a star. Oprah's Harpo production company produced Phil's show and it was immediately successful. As time went on and Phil's ego inflated, it was apparent he was not the sensitive and compassionate man he appears to be on TV. In fact, according to coworkers, he was a big HAM with brusque manners. As time passed, Phil resented the fact that Oprah controlled his show - HE wanted to own it. Oprah became disillusioned with Phil and did NOT attend his son's wedding. Without Oprah's support, Dr Phil's ratings have slipped. It's just a matter of time before Oprah waves bye bye.
Since the first time Tyra Banks shared a stage with Oprah, she has wanted to BE her. A younger version of her, of course. Tyra admits Oprah has been her inspiration and her show is successful so she's obviously appealing to viewers. Tyra has even gained WEIGHT and made a big deal out of her body image problems like Oprah. Tyra's cool and her coworkers like her (like Oprah) but Tyra has a long way to go to touch Oprah in one department. Oprah is famously generous with her staffers - she's given them Hawaiian vacations, cars, fat bonuses, and much more. This Christmas Tyra gave each employee a thank-you note and a ten dollar gift certifiate for iTunes along with a list of her recommended songs.
Is Oprah downsizing? Oprah is leaving her ten million dollar sprawl of five connected condos at the Water Tower Place in Chicago and moving to an older building at ultra exclusive East Lake Shore Drive. She had 10,000 square feet at her old place and the new six million dollar condo is half the size. "The condo she's moving into has views of the lake from every room and takes up an entire floor. The building is very exclusive and private - "old money" - no riff raff. She'll have more privacy there." A source told us. "It's about as exclusive as you can get in Chicago." But we hear a main reason she's moving is because of her beloved five DOGS - the new building is more dog-friendly. She got complaints from her neighbors in the old place. She wants nothing but the best for them.
Oprah can't escape those prying eyes! She spent fifteen million dollars on a sprawling ranch in Maui with plenty of beachfront property. Since the beach is not near any hotels it has always been deserted and very private. But all that changed after word leaked out that Oprah bought the property. All beaches in Hawaii are public and suddenly Oprah's beach has become a huge tourist attraction. Everyone- both tourists AND locals- are eager to get a glimpse of Oprah, so her once secluded beach is now packed with people sitting on the sand, staring at her premises!
