TVSquad

I agree that it was good of Oprah to publicly dress him down on her show.

But I also think she was doing this as much for damage control than to make Frey be accountable. It's been quite clear which way the winds have been blowing, and Oprah does NOT like to be on the wrong side of things especially if she has proactively put herself there.

This very public ass whuppin' of Frey was her way of saying "mea culpa" but also to let herself off the hook.

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I have lost the last smudge of respect I had for Oprah. I thought the whole thing was handled extremely poorly, by everyone, and it was just kinda painful to watch at some points.
One thing I can't deny though is that Oprah sure knows how to make some good tv.

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I'm so sick of this non-news Frey bulls**tting bulls**t. Next page, please... This has been blown way out of proportion; this guy doesn't need any more attention. I remember the first time I saw the guy promoting his book; I didn't like him one bit. He came off as arrogant and self-righteous and just rubbed me the wrong way. I still don't like him, but I don't like him any less because he embelished his life story. That's how you tell a story; you've got to make it edgy and scandalous so that it pushes people's emotional buttons. If he just wanted to share his story, he could have given free motivational talks to people in need. But no, he wanted to write a book with the goal to sell it and make a lot of money. In order to do this (and the publishers know this damn well), you have to make the story readable and exciting. Sadly, real life is seldom as exciting as various media make them out to be. So he added elements of danger, scandal, and intrigue. The message is still the same, it's just not as boring as it might have been.
Oprah knows how this works; she's written books, she puts on a show for people... What I'm thinking is that she and Frey made a deal; kind of a "I'll scratch your back" thing. Oprah probably said: "Ok, this makes us both look bad; I could sue you for defamation, but we've both worked hard on this. You go do your public defense tour and sell the book some more, and then you come on my show and I tear you a new one. Then we're square. You'll have made a lot of money, and I can walk away from this unscathed."
It just bothers me so much when celebrities manipulate the public like this for the sake of brand image.

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I find it interesting how Oprah will bravely take on and immolate average people (remember that older lady who worked in a school and posed nude in some smut mag?), yet play celebrity kiss-ass with people who really need to be taken out and beaten. I'm talking to you, Tom Cruise.

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As I've said for a few years: Oprah's for sale. They pay her and she will peddle anything on her show. Of course she's pissed, she got caught peddling BS to the masses.

Maybe she'll reel it in now, and return to the Oprah I once admired. Yesterday was a start in the right direction.

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Finally someone who agrees with me about Oprah. I cannot stand how she glorifies her generocity. Do we need to know every time she writes a check, or donates money? She seems to advertise it. Maybe it is my perception, but it drives me nuts. I also can't stand how her audience just screams at everything....ugh!

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I firmly agree with Oprah's decision to invite Mr. Frey back to her show and confront him in a proper manner.

People need to realize that when you lie, then there are repercussions and because of his bad decision, then Oprah dedicded to remove him or rather, his book, from her book club.

Maybe people will begin to fully understand that when you are in the spotlight that no one likes it when you lie about something.

Arguing that it was a memoir based upon as good as his memory is, is nothing more than making excuses for lying in many portions of his book.

With that being said, kudos should also go to Mr. Frey for having the courage to publicly admit his mistakes.

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It is my opinion that MS< Winfrey is a very Honest and caring person.I do Believe that she is truly dismayed at this whole situation and I Give her credit for her honesty and integrity.My opinion of her and her humanitarian works are exceedingly high and in all honesty she is a loved and caring celebrity.Hurray for you Oprah!! You are still admired and even more so now!!!

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Oprah's first inclination when the Smoking Gun story broke was to defend the schlub.

It was only when the winds of public opinion -- evidenced through dozens of negative newspaper stories and e-mails sent by Oprah's sycophantic fans -- finally blew strongly enough that Winfrey's tune changed.

She remains as shallow, cynical and expolitative as ever. She's probably pissed that she couldn't hold the show for sweeps.

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I agree that Oprah flaunts her wealth, big houses everywhere, planes, cars,etc. You can only live in one house at a time. Instead of going to other countries and spending her wealth, stay here in the USA and build hopitals and day care centers for those that work and are just getting by. This would help those that are trying. Then I would become one of her fans again by doing the right things. Those with all this money could also get involved to help those who struggle but try.

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I agree with what Mark Allen said above - It seemed that Oprah changed her tune only after people were coming after her. I got that feeling last night on the show and she just rubbed me the wrong way - she just seemed like she was caving into peer pressure. I don't like what James did and I wish he didn't feel like he had to lie about certain aspects of his life, but I did enjoy the book. It was a well-written book. I actually felt sorry for him when I was watching the show because no one brought up that this man still was an addict and an alcoholic and he has been sober for 13 years. This book is mainly about trying to get yourself through that addiction and he did that and it bugged me that there was no one there to support him in what he did there.

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Ridiculous Oprah butt-smootching from this blogger. Are you hoping she reads this post and makes you one of her "special friends"? She took him to task because she caved to popular opinion which ran completely against her defense of Frey. I would've been more impressed if she'd continued her defense - then she would've demonstrated that she actually believed in something. Instead, we're once again treated to Oprah as the worst of tv's "ambassadors".

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Commenter #11 (hey if he's going to call me "this blogger", I'm going to call him "Commenter #11"): I spent the entire first paragraph saying how much I dislike Oprah. If that makes me a "butt-smoocher", then Oprah's real fans are more zombie-like than I originally thought.

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It's so cool to bash Oprah, isn't it? Yeah, when she fawns over celebrites it's pretty annoying. And maybe she toots her own horn a little loudly when she does something generous. But another thing she does is teach middle America about what's going on in the world, and I respect that. Sure, it's hard to reconcile that one day she talks about atrocities in Africa and the next she might kiss Tom Cruise's ass, but from what I can tell, she's one of the only celebrities who does periodic wake-up calls about what types of evil goes on in both America and the rest of the world. It's better than nothing.

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"this blogger" - you give a solid analysis of the first paragraph of your five paragraph post. I find it reprehensible that you would admire Oprah for flip-flopping on this issue. I watched the interview in question, and was horrified to see Oprah unable to contain her "tears" after phoning to make what I thought was a cogent and fair defense of Frey's take on his writing. Why do you think Frey looked so stunned? Could it be because he was hardly expecting to be subjected to an inquisition by the same woman who had defended him live on television only a short time ago? Her audiences' reactions tell you all you need to know: who would those gasps and groans have been directed at if she'd stuck by what she said originally? I appreciate that you find her annoying, I do as well. But to occupy space to offer her congratulations for entrapping Frey even on the limitless reaches of the internet begs sharp response.

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Personally, I am getting sick of stars like Oprah Winfrey trying to sway the public on whom to vote for. Obama would make a terrible president since him primary concern is Africa. Obama’s church he attends states this at www.tucc.org/about.htm. Obama does not hold his hand to his heart during the American Pledge of Allegiance. The United States needs a president who puts American people first and foremost. If Oprah or Obama is so concerned about Africa, they should go there and promote a political party. Furthermore, Americans made Oprah famous; she should have made a school here for American students. I personally think Oprah and Obama come off racist, and I worry about the future of America if he gets voted into office.

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I believe Oprah hypebolically over killed on her BOOK REPORT. She has the power to give an entire studio auddience there own vehicle, but wont refrain on picking on a writer. write your own F***ing BOOK.

And, someone please assassinate oprah. All the people that made a difference to america's curruption are of course allready delt with

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