Oprah Has A Million Little Questions

nathans
January 26 2006, 4:04PM

I ma glad that she came forward and admitted her mistake. She also shows her incredible pwoer by making Mr Frey admit to lying on her show. Good for her.

I need to see how she handles the DL cowboys... cant wait!

Texas76132
January 26 2006, 5:56PM

Good for Oprah! After her performance on The Larry King Show, I was beginning to wonder If she would ever admit that she was duped by him. It also made me wonder if words like "truth" and "ethics" mattered anymore. I glad they still do. I am so proud of her. She pulled no punches and stood tall. I knew she would survive this like a champion. That's why I like her. As for James Frey is concerned, even though he did lie, excuse me, embellish, it took allot of courage for him to sit though that entire show and take it. I'm glad he did. I wish him the best. It's just another lesson learned in this thing we call life.

K.
January 26 2006, 6:10PM

Are you people serious? Her incredible power? I am absolutely amazed by her arrogance and holier-than-thou disposition. She is growing less and less compasionate by the day. Truth - this man lied. Fact - he showed up to talk about it. Fact - he will lie again. Just like the REMAINDER of us who are so quick to judge and condemn. He was/is a drug/alcohol addict. Please don't miss this point. Some of us are not even addicts, yet we find excuses to lie anyway. I'm not prepared to stand in line and praise 'O' (which sounds so like God these days) for publicly crucifying a man for something that has everything to do with greed, fame and self indulgence. He and God can do it without the likes of me. Oprah has gossiped and overeating most of her life. I feel so betrayed when I found out that she still eats bread when she said she didn't (lol)....get over it!!!!! It ain't that serious. Now, take a million little pieces of that.....

denise
January 26 2006, 9:56PM

betcha five dollars Oprah ain't gonna call these guys downlow....
"Oh it was such a wonderful movie, I want everyone to go and see it, yada yada yada"

James
January 26 2006, 11:08PM

I have never recalled seeing an ass gotten so expertly on TV. Bill O'Reilly, move the heck over, Oprah has proven that she is NOT to be played with. I'm SURE her producers got reprimanded just as badly.

donth8me
January 27 2006, 5:45AM

Well, have you ever heard don't believe everything you read or hear? I applaud Oprah for picking up the pieces, but am dismayed at the fact that she did little or no investigating on the background of this particular guest. I do not endorse his embellishment, or his blatant lies, however I think his only crime is trying to make his book more appealing to his audience. From personal experience, I know the difficulty in keeping a book interesting and exciting especially a memior. Obviously lying and embellishment is wrong, but there is great difficulty in offering truth in a memoir regarding ones personal experiences and secrets. Often those secrets are unfounded, with little evidence exisiting except that between the two individuals. Something like this can easily be considered a lie if its a secret thats embarrassing to the other person. The same goes with explanations of experiences. When dealing with someone you gather your own opinions of that person, but they are only opinions and without information to sustain your opinions cannot be published without committing libel to that person. James Frey was wrong for lying and embellishing in his book flat out. I think he should have did a little more research on protecting himself when writing his memoirs or even adapted his life story into a novel. At least that way he could still get his message accross without crucifying his own credibility.

joaquin
January 27 2006, 10:01AM

I think K has a pretty valid point...Moreover, Oprah's history reminds the general television populus of the US that she endorses truth and transformation and transcendence. However, we don't need to be so heavy handed with a "memoir" that has relative historical perspective. Few people condone lying or cheating and that is understandable, but in this case, I do believe that the message of unearthing triumph and healing (no matter how diminished) from the bones of tragedy and trauma is significantly more important than exposing the exactness of "personal truths". In other words, let Oprah eat her bread and let Frey eat cake; even if, it is all over his face.

joaquin
January 27 2006, 10:02AM

I think K has a pretty valid point...Moreover, Oprah's history reminds the general television populus of the US that she endorses truth and transformation and transcendence. However, we don't need to be so heavy handed with a "memoir" that has relative historical perspective. Few people condone lying or cheating and that is understandable, but in this case, I do believe that the message of unearthing triumph and healing (no matter how diminished) from the bones of tragedy and trauma is significantly more important than exposing the exactness of "personal truths". In other words, let Oprah eat her bread and let Frey eat cake; even if, it is all over his face.

mickevwms
January 27 2006, 10:44AM

I stayed up late last night to catch the reshowing of this historical broadcast to see for myself what the big fuss was all about. My conclusion shame on Oprah for not doing her homework, shame on the publishing company for letting this book among others slip through the crack, and bravo for Mr. Frey for doing what any warm blooded human being would do in today's society......win at all cost....

alicia
January 27 2006, 12:01PM

oprah needs FAR mor black authors on her list...
perhaps they may have more integrity and spare her such antics and stress

peace
ab

mr
January 27 2006, 12:03PM

I think she needed to do this. There are somethings in non fiction you can embellish. When the major structure and point of your non fiction work is based on out right lies then there is a problem. When she backed him she made a mistake. I give her credit for correcting herself.

Gordon
January 27 2006, 12:55PM

I agree that she needs more African American authors on her show. We have so much to be truthful about, and our stories to me are more candid and believable. But either way, this book is selling like hot cakes, lier or not. White folk lying about their addictions/recovery get a book deal and Oprah. What about our stories of addictions and recovery that get no attention at all from her.They can truly be more helpful to those that read half of the mess she have in her book club. Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou are the only two black authors she has had on her show. She made Beloved, but I bet that book did not sell like this liars book did. Nor did they see the damn movie......But, I digress...she is a business women and there are certain things I expect from people like O..thats my girl thought...LOL.

Neledi
January 27 2006, 3:33PM

Damn O. No matter what, she's still The Queen and America bows down.

James
January 27 2006, 4:15PM

SHE CALLED IT DOWN LOW!!!!!! Eat ya heart out, Keith.

ALIZE
January 27 2006, 5:01PM

OPRAH did mention DOWN LOW during her segment about BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN!!!!

HA HA!!!! lol

Ron
January 27 2006, 6:47PM

The real question is, why in heck was Oprah Povich-Springer investing so much emotion and general "baggage" in this quasi-memoir? Is this what happens when a talk-maven dilettante starts up a "book club"? When she expects us to believe she can read? For Pete's sake, take a damn literature course! If Oprah is trying to make us believe she is deeply invested in "truth-telling," she had damn well better get out of television -- not to mention a TALK SHOW! This crap is so silly and irritating and intellectually dishonest that it's just plain beyond belief.

markus (aka darkmanjah)
January 29 2006, 11:30PM

First she defended the dude on the larry king show. Now she changes her mind, claiming she made a mistake.(A misake is when you write 2+2=5. The position she took was NOT a mistake; it was simply bad busine$$). Was it a mistake, or did a lot of folks tell her her integrity (popularity and future earning potential) was being underminded? She gets on her show and says she feels duped. She did not feel duped on the larry king show. Why now? Personally, had she said, "I have been corresponding with friends and professional writers/journalists, and i have been persuaded that what Frey did was unacceptable," i would have some respect for her (with regards to THIS particular situation). But she made it soumd as though she came into the light on her on. i don't believe that, not after she sounded SO certain/supporting on the larry king show. Perhaps she thought that, by saying what she said on King's show, she could easily salvage her reputation (after all, she IS Oprah, Queen of daytime), later realizing that the UNDISCRIMINATING tide was rolling her way, changing her mind just as it approached her brinks truck. i guess, like always in this culture, money is the prime motivator...

Steven
January 31 2006, 4:21PM

I wish Oprah would have George W. Bush on her show to explain all his lies and “emotional truths”. Bush and James Frey have both twisted the truth to further their personal agenda at least Frey’s lies didn’t lead to over 2,200 dead Americans and countless dead Iraqis.