TVSquad

Oprah is changing up her scheduled programming today in order to interview members of the Rutgers women's basketball team. The women were the subject of a racial and sexist slur by radio host Don Imus recently. On his show, Imus inexplicably called them "nappy-headed hos" after they lost the NCAA women's championship game. As a result, he was suspended by CBS Radio and has been fired by MSNBC.

Today, coach Vivian Stringer and ten players will appear on Oprah via satellite. It's only the second time they have spoken out in response to Imus' April 4th comments. Yesterday, the coach and several players said they found Imus' comments to be hurtful and insensitive.

Does Imus also deserve a live-via-satellite interview with Oprah?

How's this for a hip-hop feud? 50 Cent vs. Oprah. In the January issue of Elle magazine, 50 Cent states that Winfrey "started out with black women's views but has been catering to middle-aged white American women for so long that she's become one herself." The old Oreo accusation - white on the inside, black on the outside.

It's bad enough that 50 has dissed every rapper in the game - Ja Rule, Nas, Fat Joe, Shyne, Jadakiss, D-Block and The Game. Now, he has to go and diss one of the most important black public figures of the past twenty years. I don't see 50 using his fortune to open schools for girls in South Africa or getting America to read Toni Morrison novels. There's a great deal you can take down Oprah for, but questioning the integrity of her "blackness" is ridiculous - particularly when done by a rapper who owes much of his success to industry mentor and white boy Eminem. Seriously, 50, stick to telling us how to party like it's our birthday instead of picking fights with the big O.

Oprah has a lot of money, but she recently insisted in a speech to the Harvard Business School that money, as the old adage goes, can't buy happiness. I would add that it can still buy you love, although I'm pretty sure that's still illegal in most states. The Chicago Sun-Times has a funny piece on Oprah and how much money a real fan would have to slap down for her cable show, print publications, XM radio channel, Oprah's Book Club books, and various items adorned with Oprah's name. By its calculations, it would cost $572.86. The point, apparently, is that these items are quite expensive for your average Oprah fan. I suppose that's true, but it's not as if Oprah is the only celebrity to venture into other forms of media and lend her name to commercial products.

First she was furious for being snubbed, now she's furious for being accused of gross snubbery. It seems Oprah is angry a lot these days. The most recent flak was caused when a columnist for a black paper in Chicago questioned Winfrey's absence at the funeral of black businessman John H. Johnson, founder of the magazines Ebony and Jet. Oprah says she was in Hawaii when she got the news of Johnson's death, and could not return for the funeral. She plans to do a show about the media pioneer after the summer hiatus.