Oprah Winfrey#Radio

Orpah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954; her first name was spelled Orpah on her birth certificate after the biblical figure in the Book of Ruth, but people mispronounced it regularly and "Oprah" stuck.{{efn|name="A of A"}} She was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to a teenaged mother, Vernita Lee, and father Vernon Winfrey. Winfrey's parents never married.{{Cite web |date=August 5, 2013 |title=Oprah Winfrey Fast Facts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/05/us/oprah-winfrey-fast-facts/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711114604/https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/05/us/oprah-winfrey-fast-facts/index.html |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |access-date=July 11, 2023 |website=CNN}} Vernita Lee (1935–2018) was a housemaid.{{Cite news |last=Nelson |first=Jill |date=December 14, 1986 |title=THE MAN WHO SAVED OPRAH WINFREY |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1986/12/14/the-man-who-saved-oprah-winfrey/66d7b7b3-98af-4495-82a7-6b04827f1bd6/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203150103/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1986/12/14/the-man-who-saved-oprah-winfrey/66d7b7b3-98af-4495-82a7-6b04827f1bd6/ |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |access-date=March 6, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |title=Everything to Know About Oprah Winfrey's Mother Vernita Lee |url=https://people.com/movies/everything-to-know-oprah-winfrey-mother/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429171609/https://people.com/movies/everything-to-know-oprah-winfrey-mother/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |access-date=March 6, 2020 |website=People |language=en}} Vernon Winfrey (1933–2022){{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=J. Kim |date=July 9, 2022 |title=Vernon Winfrey, Father of Oprah Winfrey, Dies at 89 |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/vernon-winfrey-dead-oprah-father-1235312651/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711024116/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/vernon-winfrey-dead-oprah-father-1235312651/ |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |access-date=July 11, 2023 |website=Variety.com}} was a coal miner turned barber turned city councilman who was in the Armed Forces when she was born.{{efn|Mississippi farmer and World War II Veteran Noah Robinson Sr. (born {{circa|1925}}) has claimed to be Winfrey's biological father.{{Cite web |date=17 April 2010 |title=Mississippi vet claims he's Oprah's dad |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/call_me_daddy_oprah_JilciQyKp7Pb1TQhw1c23K |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420083845/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/call_me_daddy_oprah_JilciQyKp7Pb1TQhw1c23K |archive-date=2010-04-20 |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=New York Post}}}} A genetic test in 2006 determined that her matrilineal line originated among the Kpelle ethnic group, from the area that became Liberia. Her genetic makeup was determined to be 89% Sub-Saharan African, 8% Native American{{Cite web |last=Teresa |first=Carey |date=May 9, 2019 |title=DNA tests stand on shaky ground to define Native American identity |url=https://www.genome.gov/news/news-release/DNA-tests-stand-on-shaky-ground-to-define-Native-American-identity |access-date=7 August 2024 |website=National Human Genome Research Institute}}{{efn|A genetic claim to be Native American is much less reliable than a finding about other ancestries. In general, Native American tribes have rejected this type of genetic information in considering membership. No genetic tests can definitively prove Native American ancestry.{{Cite news |last=Garrison |first=Nanibaa’ A. |date=22 March 2018 |title=Genetic Ancestry Testing with Tribes: Ethics, Identity & Health Implications |url=https://www.amacad.org/publication/daedalus/genetic-ancestry-testing-tribes-ethics-identity-health-implications |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=Daedalus |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |language=en}}}}, and 3% East Asian.{{Cite book |last=Henry Louis Gates |url=https://archive.org/details/findingoprahsroo00gate/page/153 |title=Finding Oprah's Roots: Finding Your Own |date=December 30, 2023 |publisher=Crown |isbn=9780307382382 |page=154}}

After Winfrey's birth, her mother traveled north, and Winfrey spent her first six years living in rural poverty with her maternal grandmother, Hattie Mae (Presley) Lee (April 15, 1900 – February 27, 1963). Her grandmother was so poor that Winfrey often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which other children made fun of her.{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Paul |date=November 20, 2005 |title=You go, girl |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/nov/20/television.usa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607162759/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/nov/20/television.usa |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=December 4, 2016 |website=The Observer |via=The Guardian |location=UK}}{{Cite web |title=Ancestry of Oprah Winfrey |url=http://genealogy.about.com/od/aframertrees/p/oprah_winfrey.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826161235/http://genealogy.about.com/od/aframertrees/p/oprah_winfrey.htm |archive-date=August 26, 2014 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |website=Genealogy.about.com}} Her grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses. Her grandmother, a believer in the adage "spare the rod, spoil the child," beat her almost daily.{{Cite book |last=Krohn |first=Katherine E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NttdSpnjedgC&dq=oprah+grandmother+hit+switch&pg=PA9 |title=Oprah Winfrey: Global Media Leader (USA Today) |publisher=Krohn |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-58013-571-9 |page=9 |access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715230112/https://books.google.com/books?id=NttdSpnjedgC&dq=oprah+grandmother+hit+switch&pg=PA9 |archive-date=July 15, 2023 |url-status=live}}

At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother had been, largely as a result of the long hours she worked as a maid. Around this time, Lee had given birth to another daughter, Winfrey's younger half-sister, Patricia,{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=12}} who died of causes related to cocaine addiction in February 2003 at age 43.{{Cite book |last=Garson |first=Helen S. |title=Oprah Winfrey: A Biography |publisher=Greenwood |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-313-32339-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oprahwinfreybiog00gars/page/20 20]}} By 1962, Lee was having difficulty raising both daughters, so Winfrey was temporarily sent to live with Vernon in Nashville, Tennessee.{{sfnp|Mair|1995|pp=13–14}} While Winfrey was in Nashville, Lee gave birth to a third daughter,{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Leah |date=January 24, 2011 |title=Oprah's Big Secret? She Has a Half-Sister |url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Oprah+Secret+Half+Sister/4156107/story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127161729/http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Oprah%2BSecret%2BHalf%2BSister/4156107/story.html |archive-date=January 27, 2011 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |website=The Gazette |location=Montreal}} who was put up for adoption in the hopes of easing the financial straits that had led to Lee's being on welfare, and was later also named Patricia. Winfrey did not know that she had a second half-sister until 2010.{{Cite web |last=Oldenburg |first=Ann |date=January 24, 2011 |title=Oprah's Secret Is Out! |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/01/oprahs-secret-is-out/1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126021234/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/01/oprahs-secret-is-out/1 |archive-date=2011-01-26 |website=USA Today}} By the time Winfrey moved back with her mother, Lee had also given birth to Winfrey's half-brother Jeffrey, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1989. At the age of eight, she was baptized in a Baptist church.Barbranda Lumpkins Walls, [https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/style-trends/info-2015/oprah-winfrey-belief-series.html Spirituality According to Oprah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410193718/https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/style-trends/info-2015/oprah-winfrey-belief-series.html |date=April 10, 2021}}, aarp.org, USA, November 9, 2015

Winfrey has stated she was molested by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend, starting when she was nine years old, something she first announced on a 1986 episode of her TV show regarding sexual abuse.{{Cite news |last=Winfrey |first=Lee |date=September 7, 1986 |title=Talking her way to TV stardom |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97010510/talking-her-way-to-tv-stardom/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306015345/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97010510/talking-her-way-to-tv-stardom/ |archive-date=March 6, 2022 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |page=TV Week 4, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97010567/ 51] |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Morgan |first=Thomas |date=March 4, 1986 |title=Troubled Girl's Evolution into an Oscar Nominee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/04/movies/troubled-girl-s-evolution-into-an-oscar-nominee.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203151545/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/04/movies/troubled-girl-s-evolution-into-an-oscar-nominee.html |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |access-date=March 14, 2020 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} A biographer alleged that when Winfrey discussed the alleged abuse with family members at age 24, they refused to believe her account.{{Cite book |last=Garson |first=Helen S. |title=Oprah Winfrey: A Biography |publisher=Greenwood |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-313-32339-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oprahwinfreybiog00gars/page/22 22]}} Winfrey once commented that she had chosen not to be a mother because she had not been mothered well.{{Cite news |date=November 20, 2009 |title=Oprah Winfrey: It's good to talk |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8370789.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917131749/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8370789.stm |archive-date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |work=BBC News}} At 13, after suffering what she described as years of abuse, Winfrey ran away from home.

When she was 14, she became pregnant, but her son was born prematurely and died shortly after birth.{{Cite web |title=Oprah Winfrey |url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/169:1814/1/Oprah_Winfrey.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307090105/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/169%3A1814/1/Oprah_Winfrey.htm |archive-date=March 7, 2008 |access-date=February 8, 2008 |publisher=The Biography Channel}} Winfrey later stated she felt betrayed by the family member who had sold the story of her son to the National Enquirer in 1990.{{Cite web |date=February 20, 2007 |title=Oprah Winfrey: I Was 'Devastated' by Relative's Betrayal |url=https://people.com/celebrity/oprah-winfrey-i-was-devastated-by-relatives-betrayal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904035441/http://www.people.com/people/oprah_winfrey/biography |archive-date=September 4, 2016 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |website=People}}

Winfrey attended Lincoln Middle and High School in Milwaukee, but after early success in the Upward Bound program, was transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School. Upon transferring, she said she was continually reminded of her poverty as she rode the bus to school with fellow African-Americans, some of whom were servants of her classmates' families. She began to rebel and steal money from her mother in an effort to keep up with her free-spending peers.{{Cite web |title=Milwaukee plays supporting role in Oprah book |url=http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/90710339.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611200950/http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/90710339.html |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |access-date=March 16, 2020 |website=archive.jsonline.com}}{{Cite book |last=Nagle |first=Jeanne M. |title=Oprah Winfrey: Profile of a Media Mogul |publisher=Rosen Publishing |year=2007 |page=21}} As a result, her mother once again sent her to live with her father in Nashville, although this time, she did not take her daughter back. Vernon was strict but encouraging, and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, and joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, placing second in the nation in dramatic interpretation.{{Cite web |title=Oprah Winfrey Biography |url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/oprah-winfrey.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105073013/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/oprah-winfrey.html |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |access-date=September 18, 2012 |website=Biography.com}}{{Cite book |last=White |first=Lionel Luciano Illuminati |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olGfgs1wyfwC&pg=PT20 |title=Wealth Building Strategies of the Super Rich: How to Start a Family Dynasty |date=August 11, 2010 |publisher=SPOIO Books |isbn=978-1-4524-0843-9 |language=en |access-date=June 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607162813/https://books.google.com/books?id=olGfgs1wyfwC&pg=PT20#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |url-status=live}} In 1986, Winfrey said, "'When my father took me, it changed the course of my life. He saved me. He simply knew what he wanted and expected. He would take nothing less'".

Winfrey's first job as a teenager was working at a local grocery store.{{Cite web |date=January 22, 2010 |title=Before They Were Stars |url=http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2137-Career-Growth-and-Change-Before-They-Were-Stars/?sc_extcmp=JS_2137_home1&SiteId=cbmsnhp42137&ArticleID=2137>1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=a263c00f1d4b4f99a045d1fb88f6f6e3-317894570-JO-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708120826/http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2137-Career-Growth-and-Change-Before-They-Were-Stars/?sc_extcmp=JS_2137_home1&SiteId=cbmsnhp42137&ArticleID=2137>1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=a263c00f1d4b4f99a045d1fb88f6f6e3-317894570-JO-5 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Msn.careerbuilder.com}}{{Cite book |last=Lowe |first=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yyB8PpIOiSUC&q=oprah%27s%20first%20job%20at%20grocery&pg=PA31 |title=Oprah Winfrey Speaks: Insights from the World's Most Influential Voice |date=January 22, 2001 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-39994-0 |page=31 |language=en |access-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607162809/https://books.google.com/books?id=yyB8PpIOiSUC&q=oprah%27s%20first%20job%20at%20grocery&pg=PA31#v=snippet&q=oprah's%20first%20job%20at%20grocery&f=false |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |url-status=live}} At the age of 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2018 |title=This Day in Black History: Oprah Winfrey becomes first African American to host syndicated talk show |url=https://cw39.com/black-history-month/this-day-in-black-history-oprah-winfrey-becomes-first-african-american-to-host-syndicated-talk-show/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711023826/https://cw39.com/black-history-month/this-day-in-black-history-oprah-winfrey-becomes-first-african-american-to-host-syndicated-talk-show/ |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |access-date=July 11, 2023 |website=CW39.com}}{{Cite web |last=Gater |first=Harold |date=July 14, 2022 |title=Oprah Winfrey's connections to Nashville |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2022/07/14/oprah-winfrey-life-nashville-tennessee/10058178002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607162739/https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2022/07/14/oprah-winfrey-life-nashville-tennessee/10058178002/ |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=July 11, 2023 |website=The Tennessean}}{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Jenna |date=June 14, 2023 |title=16 Celebrities Who Were Pageant Stars |url=https://gothammag.com/16-celebrities-who-were-pageant-stars |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711023846/https://gothammag.com/16-celebrities-who-were-pageant-stars |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |access-date=July 11, 2023 |website=GothamMag.com}} She also attracted the attention of the local black radio station, WVOL, which hired her to do the news part-time. She worked there during her senior year of high school and in her first two years of college.{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Ilene |author-link=Ilene Cooper |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHhqS2kb0N0C&pg=PA68 |title=Oprah Winfrey: A Twentieth-century Life |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-241045-5 |pages=65–71 |language=en |access-date=March 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607162759/https://books.google.com/books?id=sHhqS2kb0N0C&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |url-status=live}} Winfrey won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication. However, she did not deliver her final paper until 1987, by which time she was a successful television personality.{{Cite book |last=Kelley |first=K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdvXLjqAcccC |title=Oprah: A Biography |publisher=Crown |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-307-71877-8 |page=163 |access-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163300/https://books.google.com/books?id=CdvXLjqAcccC |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |url-status=live}} It was only then Winfrey earned her degree.

Winfrey's career in media would not have surprised her grandmother, who once said that ever since Winfrey could talk, she was on stage. As a child, she played games interviewing her corncob doll and the crows on the fence of her family's property. Winfrey later acknowledged her grandmother's influence, saying it was Hattie Mae who had encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself".Mel Novit. "Oprah: Talk Show Dynamo Treats the Audience Like a Friend", Syracuse Post-Standard, September 14, 1986, p. A9.

{{Main|The Oprah Winfrey Show}}

Working in local media, Winfrey was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV (now WTVF-TV), where she often covered the same stories as John Tesh, who worked at a competing Nashville station. In 1976, she moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the six o'clock news. In 1977, she was removed as co-anchor and worked in lower profile positions at the station. She was then recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14, 1978. She also hosted the local version of Dialing for Dollars.{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2020 |title=Oprah Gail Winfrey: Star born out of adversity |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/inspiring-lives/oprah-gail-winfrey-star-born-out-of-adversity/story-a7NN8muJ5lLl22PaOXpFkK.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319192709/https://www.hindustantimes.com/inspiring-lives/oprah-gail-winfrey-star-born-out-of-adversity/story-a7NN8muJ5lLl22PaOXpFkK.html |archive-date=March 19, 2020 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Klenke |first=Karin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_1DDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 |title=Women in Leadership: Contextual Dynamics and Boundaries, Second Edition |date=December 13, 2017 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-1-78743-277-2 |language=en |access-date=June 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163212/https://books.google.com/books?id=W_1DDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA200#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=David Zurawik |date=May 18, 2011 |title=From Sun Magazine: Oprah -- Built in Baltimore |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-sm-oprahs-baltimore-20110522-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320154824/https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-sm-oprahs-baltimore-20110522-story.html |archive-date=March 20, 2020 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}

In 1984, Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago, after being hired by that station's general manager, Dennis Swanson. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest-rated talk show in Chicago. The movie critic Roger Ebert persuaded her to sign a syndication deal with King World. Ebert predicted that she would generate 40 times as much revenue as his television show, At the Movies.{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=November 16, 2005 |title=How I gave Oprah her start |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/how-i-gave-oprah-her-start |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313085110/http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/how-i-gave-oprah-her-start |archive-date=March 13, 2017 |access-date=January 15, 2017 |work=Roger Ebert's Journal |location=Chicago}} Formerly appeared as {{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=How I gave Oprah her start |work=Chicago Sun-Times |edition=online |date=November 16, 2005 |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20051116%2FCOMMENTARY%2F511160301 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |archive-date=June 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621204816/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20051116%2FCOMMENTARY%2F511160301 }} It was then renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show and expanded to a full hour. The first episode was broadcast nationwide on September 8, 1986.{{Cite AV media |title=Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? |date=July 19, 2006 |publisher=Buena Vista Television |people=Meredith Vieira, host}}{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Mike |title=Oprah's First Season: An Oral History |url=http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/September-2016/The-Oprah-Winfrey-Show/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025152834/https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/September-2016/The-Oprah-Winfrey-Show/ |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |website=Chicago magazine |language=en}} Winfrey's syndicated show brought in double Donahue's national audience, displacing Donahue as the number-one daytime talk show in America. Their much-publicized contest was the subject of enormous scrutiny. According to Time magazine in August 1988:

{{Pull quote|Few people would have bet on Oprah Winfrey's swift rise to host of the most popular talk show on TV. In a field dominated by white males, she is a black female of ample bulk. As interviewers go, she is no match for, say, Phil Donahue ... What she lacks in journalistic toughness, she makes up for in plainspoken curiosity, robust humor and, above all empathy. Guests with sad stories to tell are apt to rouse a tear in Oprah's eye ... They, in turn, often find themselves revealing things they would not imagine telling anyone, much less a national TV audience. It is the talk show as a group therapy session.[https://web.archive.org/web/20091121010155/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968069,00.html "Oprah Winfrey: Lady with a Calling"], Time, August 8, 1988. Retrieved September 17, 2010.}}

TV columnist Howard Rosenberg said: "She's a roundhouse, a full course meal, big, brassy, loud, aggressive, hyper, laughable, lovable, soulful, tender, low-down, earthy, and hungry. And she may know the way to Phil Donahue's jugular."{{sfnp|Mair|1994|p=97}} Newsday{{'}}s Les Payne observed, "Oprah Winfrey is sharper than Donahue, wittier, more genuine, and far better attuned to her audience, if not the world"{{sfnp|Mair|1994|p=98}} and Martha Bayles of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "It's a relief to see a gab-monger with a fond but realistic assessment of her own cultural and religious roots."{{sfnp|Mair|1994|p=98}}

file:Oprah Winfrey 1997.jpg

In the early years of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the program was classified as a tabloid talk show. In the mid-1990s, Winfrey began to host shows on broader topics such as heart disease, geopolitics, spirituality, and meditation. She interviewed celebrities on social issues they were directly involved with, such as cancer, charity work, or substance abuse, and hosted televised giveaways.{{Cite web |date=February 13, 2018 |title=Oprah once gave an entire audience free cars – but it turns out there was a hidden cost |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/you-get-a-car-oprah-winfrey-giveaway-studio-audience-gift-tax-members-guests-pay-show-a8208051.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/you-get-a-car-oprah-winfrey-giveaway-studio-audience-gift-tax-members-guests-pay-show-a8208051.html |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |access-date=December 9, 2019 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Benedictus |first=Leo |date=September 14, 2010 |title=Oprah surprises her audience with a trip to Australia – on a plane flown by John Travolta |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/sep/14/oprah-winfrey-australia-john-travolta |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163212/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/sep/14/oprah-winfrey-australia-john-travolta |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=December 9, 2019 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The later years of the show faced accusations that Winfrey was promoting junk science.{{Cite web |last=Belluz |first=Julia |date=January 9, 2018 |title=Oprah's long history with junk science |url=https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/1/9/16868216/oprah-winfrey-pseudoscience |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430195005/https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/1/9/16868216/oprah-winfrey-pseudoscience |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |access-date=June 27, 2019 |website=Vox}} This has manifested as criticisms of Winfrey for promoting particular guests whose medical commentaries (both on her show and in the wider media) frequently lack supporting science. Common targets of this criticism include Jenny McCarthy's unfounded assertions about vaccines, and Suzanne Somers's promotion of bioidenticals.{{Cite web |last=Mathis-Lilley |first=Ben |date=January 8, 2018 |title=Oprah's Record of Promoting Charlatans Should Perhaps Give Us Pause About Her Impending Presidency |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/oprah-presidential-case-marred-by-promotion-dr-oz-jenny-mccarthy-others.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416173807/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/oprah-presidential-case-marred-by-promotion-dr-oz-jenny-mccarthy-others.html |archive-date=April 16, 2020 |access-date=April 27, 2020 |website=Slate}}{{Cite web |title=How Oprah helped spread anti-vaccine pseudoscience |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/how-oprah-helped-spread-anti-vaccine-pseudoscience/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416161340/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/how-oprah-helped-spread-anti-vaccine-pseudoscience/ |archive-date=April 16, 2020 |access-date=April 27, 2020}}

In addition to her talk show, Winfrey moderated three ABC Afterschool Specials from 1992 to 1994 and also produced and co-starred in the drama miniseries The Women of Brewster Place (1989) and its short-lived spin-off, Brewster Place.{{Cite web |title=The Women of Brewster Place {{!}} television miniseries {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Women-of-Brewster-Place-television-miniseries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201053753/https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Women-of-Brewster-Place-television-miniseries |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} As well as hosting and appearing on television shows, Winfrey co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen, which was the initial network for her Oprah After the Show program from 2002 to 2006 before moving to Oprah.com when Winfrey sold her stake in the network. She is also the president of Harpo Productions (Oprah spelled backwards), a film and TV production company behind The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, The Dr. Oz Show and many others.

Dr. Phil has been criticized as being at best, simplistic and, at worst, ineffective or harmful.{{cite book|last= Salerno|first= Steve|title= SHAM; How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless|year= 2005|publisher= Crown Publishers|isbn= 978-1-4000-5409-1|url= https://archive.org/details/shamhowselfhelpm00sale}} The National Alliance on Mental Illness has called Dr. Phil's conduct "unethical" and "incredibly irresponsible".{{cite news |last=de Moraes |first=Lisa |title=On Dr. Phil, a Dose of Bad Medicine? |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 1, 2004 |page=C7 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63905-2004Sep30.html |access-date=August 4, 2017 |archive-date=August 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804222148/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63905-2004Sep30.html |url-status=live}} Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz) has been criticized by various medical publications and physicians for spreading pseudoscience{{Cite web |last=Panetta |first=Grace |title=Dr. Oz is running for the US Senate in Pennsylvania. Here are 8 times he's made false or baseless medical claims. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/dr-oz-false-misleading-baseless-medical-claims-coronavirus-2020-4 |access-date=December 2, 2021 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=December 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201235422/https://www.businessinsider.com/dr-oz-false-misleading-baseless-medical-claims-coronavirus-2020-4 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Gantz |first=Sarah |date=December 2, 2021 |title=Mehmet Oz has peddled 'fat burners' and other pseudoscience. Now he's running for Senate in Pa. |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.inquirer.com/health/dr-oz-us-senate-controversial-medical-claims-20211202.html |access-date=December 2, 2021 |archive-date=December 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202121224/https://www.inquirer.com/health/dr-oz-us-senate-controversial-medical-claims-20211202.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Gabriel |first=Trip |date=December 26, 2021 |title='Magic' Weight-Loss Pills and Covid Cures: Dr. Oz Under the Microscope |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/26/us/politics/dr-oz-medical-advice.html |access-date=December 26, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226100910/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/26/us/politics/dr-oz-medical-advice.html |url-status=live}} Dr. Oz's promotion of various "miracle pills" (especially those aimed at weight loss),{{Cite web |title=Oprah Winfrey Says She Wrestled with Thoughts on Ozempic, Wegovy: 'If I Take the Drug, That's the Easy Way Out' |url=https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-thought-about-ozempic-wegovy-7972452 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114184324/https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-thought-about-ozempic-wegovy-7972452 |archive-date=November 14, 2023 |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}} One website, Science-Based Medicine, said "No other show on television can top The Dr. Oz Show for the sheer magnitude of bad health advice it consistently offers, all while giving everything a veneer of credibility".{{cite web |title=Lies, fraud, conflicts of interest, and bogus science: The real Dr. Oz effect |date=January 29, 2015 |url=https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/lies-fraud-conflicts-of-interest-and-bogus-science-the-real-dr-oz-effect/ |accessdate=4 January 2019}}

Multiple publications have called on Winfrey to denounce medical statements made by her former proteges long after her show ended. For example, there were calls for her to denounce Dr. Oz in 2020 reaction to his comments about coronavirus and his promotion of a poorly vetted drug as a cure.{{Cite news |last=Summers |first=Daniel |date=April 17, 2020 |title=It's Time for Oprah to Renounce Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz over Their Dangerous Coronavirus Propaganda |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-time-for-oprah-to-renounce-dr-phil-and-dr-oz-over-their-dangerous-coronavirus-propoganda |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525081045/https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-time-for-oprah-to-renounce-dr-phil-and-dr-oz-over-their-dangerous-coronavirus-propoganda |archive-date=May 25, 2021 |access-date=March 25, 2021 |work=The Daily Beast}}

On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It was scheduled to launch in 2009 but was delayed, and actually launched on January 1, 2011.{{Cite news |title=What is OWN |url=http://www.oprah.com/own/what_is_own.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514233054/http://www.oprah.com/own/what_is_own.html |archive-date=May 14, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |work=Oprah.com}}

The series finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired on May 25, 2011.{{Cite web |title=This Is It: Oprah's Final Show |url=http://www.etonline.com/news/111057_This_Is_It_Oprah_s_Final_Show |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528034508/http://www.etonline.com/news/111057_This_Is_It_Oprah_s_Final_Show |archive-date=May 28, 2011 |access-date=May 25, 2011 |website=etonline.com}}

In January 2017, CBS announced that Winfrey would join 60 Minutes as a special contributor on the Sunday evening news magazine program starting in September 2017.[https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/oprah-winfrey-join-60-minutes-special-contributor-n714646 "Oprah Winfrey to join 60 Minutes as Special Contributor"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923232742/https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/oprah-winfrey-join-60-minutes-special-contributor-n714646 |date=September 23, 2019 }} NBC News, January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018. The National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2018 opened a special exhibit on Winfrey's cultural influence through television.{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Steve |date=July 20, 2018 |title=Smithsonian's 'Watching Oprah' a powerful reminder of why we miss her |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ae-watching-oprah-african-american-museum-0722-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721150206/http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ae-watching-oprah-african-american-museum-0722-story.html |archive-date=July 21, 2018 |access-date=July 22, 2018 |work=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}} Winfrey left 60 Minutes by the end of 2018.{{Cite web |date=April 30, 2019 |title=Oprah Talks Apple Plans, '60 Minutes' Exit, 'Leaving Neverland' Backlash and Mayor Pete "Buttabeep, Buttaboop" |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/oprah-winfrey-talks-apple-plans-60-minutes-split-2020-election-1205311 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615170236/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/oprah-winfrey-talks-apple-plans-60-minutes-split-2020-election-1205311 |archive-date=June 15, 2019 |access-date=June 21, 2019 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en}}

In June 2018, Apple announced a multi-year content partnership with Winfrey, in which it was agreed that Winfrey would create new original programs exclusively for Apple's streaming service, Apple TV+.{{Cite news |date=June 16, 2018 |title=Apple signs up Oprah Winfrey in $1bn programming push |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jun/16/oprah-winfrey-apple-in-1bn-programming-push |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163307/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jun/16/oprah-winfrey-apple-in-1bn-programming-push |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=February 13, 2019 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |agency=Reuters}} The first show under the deal, Oprah's Book Club, premiered on November 1, 2019. Oprah's Book Club is based on the segment of the same name from The Oprah Winfrey Show. The second show under the deal, Oprah Talks COVID-19, debuted on March 21, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A third show, The Oprah Conversation debuted on July 30, 2020, with Winfrey "[continuing] to explore impactful and relevant topics with fascinating thought leaders from all over the world".{{Cite web |last=Respers France |first=Lisa |date=July 28, 2020 |title=Oprah Winfrey launching new show on Apple TV+ |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/28/entertainment/oprah-apple-tv-show-trnd/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729083233/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/28/entertainment/oprah-apple-tv-show-trnd/index.html |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020 |website=CNN}}

In 1993, Winfrey hosted a rare prime-time interview called, Michael Jackson Talks ... to Oprah with Michael Jackson, which became the fourth most-watched event in American television history as well as the most watched interview ever, with an audience of 36.5 million.{{Cite journal |date=March 8, 1993 |title=Alex Haley's 'Queen' Lifts CBS To No. 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37 |url-status=live |journal=Jet |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |page=37 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227165102/https://books.google.com/books?id=rLoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37 |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=February 23, 2011}} On December 1, 2005, Winfrey appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman for the first time in 16 years, to promote the new Broadway musical, The Color Purple,{{Cite magazine |last=Richard Corliss |date=Dec 2, 2005 |title=The Color Oprah |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1137132,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921032825/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1137132,00.html |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |access-date=July 21, 2021 |magazine=Time}} which she produced. The episode was hailed by some as the "television event of the decade" and helped Letterman attract his largest audience in more than 11 years: 13.45 million viewers.{{Cite news |last1=Huff |first1=Richard |last2=Coleman |first2=Christena |date=December 3, 2005 |title=It's Win-Winfrey situation for Dave as ratings soar |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/371235p-315854c.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051205032533/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/371235p-315854c.html |archive-date=December 5, 2005 |access-date=March 5, 2007 |work=Daily News |location=New York}} Although a much-rumored feud was said to have been the cause of the rift, both Winfrey and Letterman balked at such talk. "I want you to know, it's really over, whatever you thought was happening," said Winfrey. On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, as its season premiere was filmed in New York City.{{Cite news |date=August 29, 2007 |title=Letterman to Appear on 'Oprah' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902013.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829180112/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082902013.html |archive-date=August 29, 2008 |access-date=September 17, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press}}

In 2006, rappers Ludacris, 50 Cent, and Ice Cube criticized Winfrey for what they perceived as an anti-hip hop bias. In an interview with GQ magazine, Ludacris said that Winfrey gave him a "hard time" about his lyrics, and edited comments he made during an appearance on her show with the cast of the film Crash. He also said that he wasn't initially invited on the show with the rest of the cast.[https://www.foxnews.com/story/ice-cube-says-oprah-has-a-problem-with-hip-hop "Ice Cube Says Oprah Has 'a Problem With Hip-Hop"] . Fox News Channel. May 28, 2006. Retrieved September 17, 2010 Winfrey responded by saying that she is opposed to rap lyrics that "marginalize women," but enjoys some artists, including Kanye West, who appeared on her show. She said she spoke with Ludacris backstage after his appearance to explain her position and said she understood that his music was for entertainment purposes, but that some of his listeners might take it literally. In September 2008, Winfrey received criticism after Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report{{Cite web |last=Bercovici |first=Jeff |date=September 7, 2008 |title=Oprah and Sarah: Anatomy of a Non-troversy |url=http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/09/07/oprah-and-sarah-anatomy-of-a-non-troversy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201202536/http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2008/09/07/oprah-and-sarah-anatomy-of-a-non-troversy |archive-date=December 1, 2008 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |publisher=Portfolio.com}} reported that Winfrey refused to have Sarah Palin on her show, allegedly because of Winfrey's support for Barack Obama.{{Cite news |last=Friedman |first=Emily |date=September 5, 2008 |title=Is Oprah Biased? Host Won't Interview Palin |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=5736716&page=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906014034/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=5736716&page=1 |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |access-date=September 5, 2008 |publisher=ABC News}} Winfrey denied the report, maintaining that there never was a discussion regarding Palin's appearing on her show. She said that after she made public her support for Obama, she decided that she would not let her show be used as a platform for any of the candidates. Although Obama appeared twice on her show, those appearances were prior to his declaration as a presidential candidate. Winfrey added that Palin would make a fantastic guest and that she would love to have her on the show after the election, which she did on November 18, 2009.

In 2009, Winfrey was criticized for allowing actress Suzanne Somers to appear on her show to discuss hormone treatments that are not accepted by mainstream medicine.{{Cite web |last=Noveck |first=Jocelyn |date=October 19, 2009 |title=Somers' New Target: Conventional Cancer Treatment |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=8866956 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029230709/http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WireStory?id=8866956 |archive-date=October 29, 2009 |publisher=ABC News}} Critics have also suggested that Winfrey is not tough enough when questioning celebrity guests or politicians whom she appears to like.{{Cite journal |last=Poniewozik |first=James |date=October 27, 1998 |title=Oprah Winfrey, Journalist? |url=http://www.salon.com/media/poni/1998/10/27poni.html |journal=Salon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000412172951/http://www.salon.com/media/poni/1998/10/27poni.html |archive-date=April 12, 2000 |access-date=February 23, 2011}} Lisa de Moraes, a media columnist for The Washington Post, stated: "Oprah doesn't do follow-up questions unless you're an author who's embarrassed her by fabricating portions of a supposed memoir she's plugged for her book club", referring to the controversy around James Frey's A Million Little Pieces.{{Cite news |last=de Moraes |first=Lisa |date=February 4, 2006 |title=Dave Chappelle, Rematerializing Guy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020302967.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905200739/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020302967.html |archive-date=September 5, 2008 |access-date=May 15, 2008 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

In 2021, she conducted an interview with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and her husband Prince Harry, which was broadcast globally and received international media attention.{{Cite news |date=March 8, 2021 |title=Meghan and Harry interview: Tabloid racism 'large part' of why we left UK, says duke |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56324215 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163306/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56324215 |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=March 9, 2021 |work=BBC News}}

In 2024, ABC aired a new television special titled “AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special”. The one-hour show aimed to delve into the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on daily life. It featured interviews with prominent figures from the tech industry, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Bill Gates.{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=2024-09-03 |title=Oprah's upcoming AI television special sparks outrage among tech critics |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/oprahs-upcoming-ai-television-special-sparks-outrage-among-tech-critics/ |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}{{Cite web |title=Watch 'AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special' Thursday, September 12 {{!}} ABC Updates |url=https://abc.com/news/1efd942d-61bb-4519-8a62-c4a8fce50792/category/1138628 |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=ABC |language=en}}

Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985), as distraught housewife Sofia. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The Alice Walker novel later became a Broadway musical which opened in late 2005, with Winfrey credited as a producer. In October 1998, Winfrey produced and starred in the film Beloved, based on Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name. To prepare for her role as Sethe, the protagonist and former slave, Winfrey experienced a 24-hour simulation of the experience of slavery, which included being tied up and blindfolded and left alone in the woods. Despite major advertising, including two episodes of her talk show dedicated solely to the film, and moderate to good critical reviews, Beloved opened to poor box-office results, losing approximately $30 million. While promoting the movie, co-star Thandiwe Newton described Winfrey as "a very strong technical actress and it's because she's so smart. She's acute. She's got a mind like a razor blade."Vogue October 1998 Harpo Productions released a film adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God in 2005. The made-for-television film was based upon a teleplay by Suzan-Lori Parks and starred Halle Berry in the lead female role.

In late 2008, Winfrey's company Harpo Films signed an exclusive output pact to develop and produce scripted series, documentaries, and movies exclusively for HBO.{{Cite news |last=Frankel |first=Daniel |date=December 16, 2008 |title=Oprah Winfrey pacts with HBO |url=https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/oprah-winfrey-pacts-with-hbo-1117997464/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210121021/https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/oprah-winfrey-pacts-with-hbo-1117997464/ |archive-date=February 10, 2018 |access-date=January 29, 2018 |work=Variety}}

In 2013, Winfrey starred in the film The Butler directed by Lee Daniels. Though her performance garnered significant Oscar buzz, she was not nominated for the award.{{Cite web |title=Oscar Nominations: Why Was Oprah Snubbed for Her Butler Performance? |url=https://people.com/celebrity/oscar-nominations-why-was-oprah-snubbed-for-her-butler-performance/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126231340/https://people.com/celebrity/oscar-nominations-why-was-oprah-snubbed-for-her-butler-performance/ |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}

Oprah voiced Gussie the goose in Charlotte's Web (2006) and voiced Judge Bumbleton in Bee Movie (2007), co-starring the voices of Jerry Seinfeld and Renée Zellweger. In 2009, Winfrey provided the voice for the character of Eudora, the mother of Princess Tiana, in Disney's The Princess and the Frog and in 2010, narrated the US version of the BBC nature program Life for Discovery.

In 2018, Winfrey starred as Mrs. Which in the film adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's novel A Wrinkle in Time.{{Cite magazine |title=Why A Wrinkle in Time Will Change Hollywood |url=https://time.com/wrinkle-in-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424103757/http://time.com/wrinkle-in-time/ |archive-date=April 24, 2018 |access-date=March 13, 2018 |magazine=Time}} She also lent her voice to an animated virtual-reality short film written and directed by Eric Darnell, starring John Legend, titled Crow: The Legend, telling a Native American origin tale.Russian, Ale. [https://people.com/movies/john-legend-ventures-in-vr-with-oprah-winfrey-and-more-in-crow-the-legend-watch-here "John Legend Ventures in VR with Oprah Winfrey and More in Crow: The Legend – Watch Here!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927225826/https://people.com/movies/john-legend-ventures-in-vr-with-oprah-winfrey-and-more-in-crow-the-legend-watch-here/ |date=September 27, 2020 }}, People, November 29, 2018

Winfrey has co-authored five books. At the announcement of a weight-loss book in 2005, co-authored with her personal trainer Bob Greene, it was said that her undisclosed advance fee had broken the record for the world's highest book advance fee, previously held by the autobiography of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.{{Cite news |last=Glaister |first=Dan |date=May 22, 2006 |title=Oprah Winfrey book deal tops Clinton's $12m |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/22/books.media |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711023957/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/22/books.media |archive-date=July 11, 2024 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |work=The Guardian |location=UK}}

File:Oprah in 2014.jpg

In 2015, her memoir, The Life You Want, was announced following on her tour of the same name,{{Cite magazine |last=Begley |first=Sarah |date=December 3, 2015 |title=Oprah to Publish New Memoir: The Life You Want |url=https://time.com/4135218/oprah-memoir-the-life-you-want/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828223724/https://time.com/4135218/oprah-memoir-the-life-you-want/ |archive-date=August 28, 2019 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |magazine=Time}}{{Cite news |last=Conlin |first=Jennifer |date=October 10, 2014 |title=The Tao of Oprah |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/fashion/oprah-winfrey-hits-the-road-with-her-life-you-want-weekend-tour.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305003303/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/fashion/oprah-winfrey-hits-the-road-with-her-life-you-want-weekend-tour.html |archive-date=March 5, 2019 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |work=The New York Times}} and scheduled for publication in 2017,{{Cite news |last=Alter |first=Alexandra |date=December 3, 2015 |title=Oprah Winfrey to Release Memoir in 2017 |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/oprah-winfrey-to-release-memoir-in-2017/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208144811/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/oprah-winfrey-to-release-memoir-in-2017/ |archive-date=December 8, 2015 |access-date=December 9, 2015 |work=The New York Times}} but was "indefinitely postponed" in 2016.{{Cite news |last=Schaub |first=Michael |date=June 15, 2016 |title=Oprah's memoir is delayed, but her cookbook is coming in January |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-oprah-cookbooks-20160615-snap-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043424/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-oprah-cookbooks-20160615-snap-story.html |archive-date=March 6, 2019 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times}}

Winfrey publishes the magazine: O, The Oprah Magazine and from 2004 to 2008 also published a magazine called O At Home.{{Cite news |last=Pérez-Peña |first=Richard |date=November 7, 2008 |title=Hearst to Close O at Home, Oprah Magazine Spinoff |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/business/media/08hearst.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417052030/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/business/media/08hearst.html |archive-date=April 17, 2009 |access-date=May 27, 2011 |work=The New York Times}} In 2002, Fortune called O, the Oprah Magazine the most successful start-up ever in the industry.{{Cite web |last=Sellers |first=Patricia |date=April 8, 2002 |title=The Business of Being Oprah |url=http://www.mutualofamerica.com/articles/Fortune/2002_04_08/Oprah1.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208125132/http://www.mutualofamerica.com/articles/Fortune/2002_04_08/Oprah1.asp |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |website=Fortune}} Although its circulation had declined by more than 10 percent to 2.4 million from 2005 to 2008, the January 2009 issue was the best selling issue since 2006.{{Cite news |last=Wyatt |first=Edward |date=May 26, 2008 |title=A Few Tremors in Oprahland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26oprah.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815120744/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26oprah.html |archive-date=August 15, 2020 |access-date=September 25, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2009 |title=Memo Pad: Oprah Boosts Sales... AMI's New Deal... Boodro Departs... |url=http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/amis-new-deal-boosting-sales-1961835?navSection=media-news&toc_preselected=65#/article/media-news/fashion-memopad/amis-new-deal-boosting-sales-1961835?page=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613014605/http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/amis-new-deal-boosting-sales-1961835?navSection=media-news&toc_preselected=65#/article/media-news/fashion-memopad/amis-new-deal-boosting-sales-1961835?page=1 |archive-date=June 13, 2012 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |website=Women's Wear Daily}} The audience for her magazine is considerably more upscale than for her TV show; the average reader earns well above the median for U.S. women. In July 2020, it was announced that O Magazine would end its regular print publications after the December 2020 issue.{{Cite web |date=July 27, 2020 |title=Oprah's O Mag to end regular print editions after 20 years |url=https://apnews.com/de998fe469fcfb2c28aa89ee7445f050 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803233332/https://apnews.com/de998fe469fcfb2c28aa89ee7445f050 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |access-date=August 19, 2020 |website=AP NEWS}}{{Cite web |last1=Arbel |first1=Tali |last2=Writer |first2=AP Technology |date=July 28, 2020 |title=Oprah's O Mag to end regular print editions after 20 years |url=https://www.chron.com/business/article/Oprah-s-O-Mag-to-end-regular-print-editions-15439762.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805220533/https://www.chron.com/business/article/Oprah-s-O-Mag-to-end-regular-print-editions-15439762.php |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |access-date=August 19, 2020 |website=Houston Chronicle}} In the December 2020 issue, Winfrey thanked readers and acknowledged it was the magazine's "final monthly print edition".{{Cite news |last=Winfrey |first=Oprah |date=November 17, 2020 |title=Oprah Thanks Readers of O in the Magazine's Last Monthly Issue |url=https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a34691146/oprah-magazine-ending-what-i-know-for-sure/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217143019/https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a34691146/oprah-magazine-ending-what-i-know-for-sure/ |archive-date=December 17, 2020 |access-date=December 17, 2020 |publisher=O, the Oprah Magazine}}

Winfrey's company created the Oprah.com website to provide resources and interactive content related to her shows, magazines, book club, and public charity. Oprah.com averages more than 70 million page views and more than six million users per month, and receives approximately 20,000 e-mails each week.{{Cite web |title=About Oprah |url=http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/oprah-winfreys-official-biography |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109181132/http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/oprah-winfreys-official-biography |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |access-date=January 8, 2018 |publisher=Harpo, Inc.}} Winfrey initiated "Oprah's Child Predator Watch List", through her show and website, to help track down accused child molesters. Within the first 48 hours, two of the featured men were captured.{{Cite episode |title=The Oprah Show Captures Accused Child Molesters! |url=http://www.oprah.com/world/Accused-Child-Molesters-Caught_1 |series=The Oprah Winfrey Show |series-link=The Oprah Winfrey Show |access-date=September 17, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708221524/http://www.oprah.com/world/Accused-Child-Molesters-Caught_1 |archive-date=July 8, 2010 |credits=Presenter: Oprah Winfrey |air-date=October 11, 2005}}

On February 9, 2006, it was announced that Winfrey had signed a three-year, $55-million contract with XM Satellite Radio to establish a new radio channel. The channel, Oprah Radio, features popular contributors to The Oprah Winfrey Show and O, The Oprah Magazine including Nate Berkus, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene, Dr. Robin Smith, and Marianne Williamson. Oprah & Friends began broadcasting at 11:00 am ET, September 25, 2006, from a new studio at Winfrey's Chicago headquarters. The channel broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week on XM Radio Channel 156. Winfrey's contract requires her to be on the air 30 minutes a week, 39 weeks a year.{{Cite web |date=February 10, 2006 |title=Oprah Signs XM Satellite Radio Deal |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-feb-10-fi-oprah10-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611203826/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-feb-10-fi-oprah10-story.html |archive-date=June 11, 2020 |access-date=March 11, 2020 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

File:OprahEstate.jpg estate]]

Oprah's extensive and continuously evolving real-estate portfolio has garnered heightened attention throughout her life and career, with many prominent industry outlets branding her a "tycoon" regarding her investments which as of 2022, are estimated to total approximately $127 million.

As her talk show was beginning, Oprah first purchased a condominium in Chicago's Water Tower Place in 1985, before purchasing the condos adjoining and directly below it in 1992, 1993, and 1994, respectively. In 1988, she purchased an 164-acre property including main and guest residences, orchard, and stables in Rolling Prairie, Indiana as her weekend refuge. In 1992, she purchased an 80-acre compound in Telluride, Colorado, which she would go on to sell in approximately late 2000. In 1994, she also purchased an apartment at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago. Between 1996 and 2000 she purchased a total of five condos in different development areas of Fisher Island, Florida. In 2000, through her Chicago-based LLC Overground Railroad, Oprah purchased her friend Gayle King an estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2001, Oprah sold all five of her Fisher Island condos and purchased what would become her "main home base" she has also called "The Promised Land" (where she currently lives as of 2022), a (then) 42-acre (17 ha) estate with ocean and mountain views in Montecito, California.{{Cite web |date=April 29, 2001 |title=Oprah buying 40-acre estate in California |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-04-29-0104290208-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106211925/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-04-29-0104290208-story.html |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Zap |first=Claudine |date=November 14, 2019 |title=She Gets a House! And He Gets a House! Oprah Winfrey's Impressive Real Estate Portfolio |url=https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/oprah-winfrey-impressive-real-estate-portfolio/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220416145304/https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/oprah-winfrey-impressive-real-estate-portfolio/ |archive-date=April 16, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Realtor.com |language=en-US}}

Additionally that year, she also purchased homes in both Elmwood Park, Illinois and Merrillville, Indiana for other family members and friends. Similarly, in 2002, she purchased her father's home in Franklin, Tennessee and a lakefront condo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2003 she listed her compound in Rolling Prairie, Indiana, and sold it in 2004.{{Cite web |date=September 14, 2003 |title=Muhammad Ali, Oprah selling nearby estates |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-09-14-0309140307-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106183230/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-09-14-0309140307-story.html |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2004 |title=Oprah's Indiana farm sold to developer |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2004/12/16/Oprahs-Indiana-farm-sold-to-developer/39701103246152/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325220311/http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2004/12/16/Oprahs-Indiana-farm-sold-to-developer/39701103246152 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=UPI |language=en-US}} From 2003 to 2005, Oprah acquired several properties totaling 163 acres in Kula and Hana, Hawaii as well as a penthouse apartment in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2005, she purchased a home in Douglasville, Georgia which was gifted in 2011 to a family member.

In 2006, Oprah purchased a co-op apartment along Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago, reportedly with plans to permanently move there from her prior adjoined-condo unit in Water Tower Place for the duration of her show; for reasons unknown, the property sat entirely unused until she sold it in 2012.{{Cite web |date=November 20, 2015 |title=Oprah Winfrey sells Water Tower condo for $4.6 million |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/real-estate/elite-street/ct-oprah-winfrey-condo-elite-street-1121-biz-20151120-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106145616/https://www.chicagotribune.com/real-estate/elite-street/ct-oprah-winfrey-condo-elite-street-1121-biz-20151120-story.html |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}} In 2008, she sold her penthouse apartment in Atlanta. That year, she also listed Gayle King's estate and purchased her (through her second LLC Sophie's Penthouse) a penthouse apartment in midtown Manhattan, New York City which would later be sold in 2012.

In early 2014, she listed her combined-unit Chicago duplex on the market. Later that year, Oprah came back to Telluride, Colorado to purchase a 60-acre lot with plans to build on the property. A lawsuit filed against her that year by a retired nuclear physicist living in the area regarding trail access rights was dismissed later that year with the judge citing little case law to support his case, among other issues. The extent of the agreement between all the parties and jurisdictions regarding her subsequent development on the property remains undisclosed.{{Cite web |date=December 1, 2014 |title=MV trails case dismissed |url=https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_19ee2863-83f7-5bad-b0e1-7b08e72b203f.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106150355/https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_19ee2863-83f7-5bad-b0e1-7b08e72b203f.html |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Telluride Daily Planet |language=en-US}}

In 2015, Oprah purchased another property in Telluride, and later that year, expanded her Montecito compound with another 23-acre estate and yet another 44-acre dedicated crop and equestrian preserve. That year she also sold both of her downtown Chicago homes.

In 2018, Oprah obtained two adjoining parcels of land totaling 23 acres including the Madroneagle compound on Orcas Island, Washington and sold her last home property in the Chicago area from Elmwood Park.{{Cite web |date=October 19, 2018 |title=Oprah sells final piece of Chicago-area real estate: 4-bedroom Elmwood Park home |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/real-estate/elite-street/ct-re-elite-street-oprah-elmwood-park-20181018-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106183233/https://www.chicagotribune.com/real-estate/elite-street/ct-re-elite-street-oprah-elmwood-park-20181018-story.html |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}} In late 2019, Oprah yet again expanded her Montecito home-base compound, this time to 70 contiguous acres, with the purchase of a four-acre complex from actor Jeff Bridges. In 2021, she sold her Orcas Island compound as she said she was too busy to use it and purchased another compound in Montecito further away from her home-base compound, flipping the latter in 2022 with split properties, one of which was sold to her property manager and longtime personal trainer Bob Greene, and the other to actress Jennifer Aniston.{{Cite web |date=October 1, 2021 |title=Oprah Winfrey's Homes: A Look Inside Her Extensive Real Estate Portfolio |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/oprah-winfrey-real-estate-portfolio |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106145612/https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/oprah-winfrey-real-estate-portfolio |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Architectural Digest |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Cannon |first=Kristine |date=November 6, 2019 |title=A Look Inside 6 of Oprah Winfrey's Homes — Yes, 6 |url=https://www.sheknows.com/living/slideshow/9672/look-inside-oprah-homes/23/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106145614/https://www.sheknows.com/living/slideshow/9672/look-inside-oprah-homes/23/ |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |work=She Knows |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=May 11, 2022 |title=All The Homes That Oprah Owns |url=https://www.housedigest.com/860091/all-the-homes-that-oprah-owns/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106183233/https://www.housedigest.com/860091/all-the-homes-that-oprah-owns/ |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=House Digest |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=June 21, 2008 |title=Gayle King Selling the Big House |url=https://www.dirt.com/more-dirt/real-estate-listings/gayle-king-selling-the-big-house-1203475669/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163247/https://robbreport.com/shelter/celebrity-homes/ |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Dirt |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=September 9, 2022 |title=Oprah Sells $14 Million Montecito Estate to Jennifer Aniston |url=https://www.dirt.com/gallery/entertainers/actors/oprah-winfrey-jennifer-aniston-house-montecito-1203580846/screen-shot-2022-09-08-at-5-22-49-pm/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163818/https://robbreport.com/shelter/celebrity-homes/ |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Dirt |language=en-US}}{{Excessive citations inline|reason=These citations should be placed after the specific sentences to which they pertain, not just piled up at the end.|date=September 2023}} In 2023, Winfrey also purchased 870 acres of land in Maui for $6.6 million.{{Cite web |title=Oprah buys 870 acres of land in Kula for nearly $6.6 million over recent months | Maui Now |url=https://mauinow.com/2023/03/02/oprah-buys-870-acres-of-land-in-kula-for-nearly-6-6-million-over-recent-months/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905030607/https://mauinow.com/2023/03/02/oprah-buys-870-acres-of-land-in-kula-for-nearly-6-6-million-over-recent-months/ |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |access-date=September 11, 2023}}

Winfrey's high school sweetheart Anthony Otey recalled an innocent courtship that began in Winfrey's senior year of high school, from which he saved hundreds of love notes; Winfrey conducted herself with dignity and was a model student.{{sfnp|Mair|1995|pp=28–29}} The two spoke of getting married, but Otey claimed to have always secretly known that Winfrey was destined for a far greater life than he could ever provide.{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=30}} She broke up with him on Valentine's Day of her senior year.{{sfnp|Mair|1995|pp=30-31}}

In 1971, several months after breaking up with Otey, Winfrey met William "Bubba" Taylor at Tennessee State University. According to CBS journalist George Mair, Taylor was Winfrey's "first intense, to-die-for love affair". Winfrey helped get Taylor a job at WVOL, and according to Mair, "did everything to keep him, including literally begging him on her knees to stay with her".{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=33}} Taylor, however, was unwilling to leave Nashville with Winfrey when she moved to Baltimore to work at WJZ-TV in June 1976. "We really did care for each other," Winfrey would later recall. "We shared a deep love. A love I will never forget."{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=43}}

In the 1970s, Winfrey had a romantic relationship with John Tesh. Biographer Kitty Kelley claims that Tesh split with Winfrey over the pressures of an interracial relationship.{{Cite news |date=April 12, 2010 |title=Oprah and John Tesh Briefly Dated, Lived Together, New Book Claims |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oprah-and-john-tesh-briefly-dated-lived-together-new-book-claims |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163822/https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/oprah-and-john-tesh-briefly-dated-lived-together-new-book-claims |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=April 13, 2010 |publisher=Fox News Channel}}

When WJZ-TV management criticized Winfrey for crying on air while reporting tragedies and were unhappy with her physical appearance (especially when her hair fell out as a result of a bad perm), Winfrey turned to reporter Lloyd Kramer for comfort. "Lloyd was just the best," Winfrey would later recall. "That man loved me even when I was bald! He was wonderful. He stuck with me through the whole demoralizing experience. That man was the most fun romance I ever had."{{harv |Mair|1995|p=47}}

According to Mair, when Kramer moved to NBC in New York, Winfrey had a love affair with a married man who had no intention of leaving his wife.{{harvp|Mair|1995|p=49}}: "the major problem with this intense love affair arose from her lover's being married, with no plans to leave his wife". Winfrey would later recall: "I'd had a relationship with a man for four years. I wasn't living with him. I'd never lived with anyone—and I thought I was worthless without him. The more he rejected me, the more I wanted him. I felt depleted, powerless. At the end, I was down on the floor on my knees groveling and pleading with him".{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=49}} Winfrey became so depressed that on September 8, 1981, she wrote a suicide note to best friend Gayle King instructing King to water her plants.{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=49}} "That suicide note had been much overplayed" Winfrey told Ms. magazine. "I couldn't kill myself. I would be afraid the minute I did it, something really good would happen and I'd miss it."{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=50}}

According to Winfrey, her emotional turmoil gradually led to a weight problem: "The reason I gained so much weight in the first place and the reason I had such a sorry history of abusive relationships with men was I just needed approval so much. I needed everyone to like me, because I didn't like myself much. So I'd end up with these cruel self-absorbed guys who'd tell me how selfish I was, and I'd say 'Oh thank you, you're so right' and be grateful to them. Because I had no sense that I deserved anything else. Which is also why I gained so much weight later on. It was the perfect way of cushioning myself against the world's disapproval."{{sfnp|Mair|1995|p=50}}

Winfrey later confessed to smoking crack cocaine with a man she was romantically involved with during the same era. She explained on her show: "I always felt that the drug itself is not the problem but that I was addicted to the man." She added: "I can't think of anything I wouldn't have done for that man."{{Cite news |date=January 30, 1995 |title=Oprah reveals on her show she smoked crack cocaine during her 20s |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n12_v87/ai_16404541 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208105953/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n12_v87/ai_16404541 |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |work=Jet}} Archived at FindArticles in 2004.

Winfrey was allegedly involved in a second drug-related love affair. Self-proclaimed former boyfriend Randolph Cook said they lived together for several months in 1985 and did drugs. In 1997, Cook tried to sue Winfrey for $20 million for allegedly blocking a tell-all book about their alleged relationship.{{cite court |litigants=Randolph L. Cook v Oprah Winfrey |vol=7th |reporter=FindLaw |opinion=973403 |court=7th Cir. |date=April 8, 1998 |url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=7th&navby=case&no=973403 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622031838/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=7th&navby=case&no=973403 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Representative Matters |url=http://www.jw.com/site/jsp/practiceinfo.jsp?id=12&matter=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031019082638/http://www.jw.com/site/jsp/practiceinfo.jsp?id=12&matter=1 |archive-date=October 19, 2003 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |publisher=Jackson Walker L.L.P}}

In the mid-1980s, Winfrey briefly dated movie critic Roger Ebert, whom she credits with advising her to take her show into syndication.

In 1985, before Winfrey's Chicago talk show had gone national, Haitian filmmaker Reginald Chevalier claims he appeared as a guest on a look-alike segment and began a relationship with Winfrey involving romantic evenings at home, candlelit baths, and dinners with Michael Jordan and Danny Glover. Chevalier says Winfrey ended the relationship when she met Stedman Graham.{{Cite web |date=February 17, 2011 |title=EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Stedman Stole Oprah From Me, Secret Lover Tells Radar |url=http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/02/exclusive-interview-stedman-stole-oprah-me-secret-lover-tells-radar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220044218/http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/02/exclusive-interview-stedman-stole-oprah-me-secret-lover-tells-radar |archive-date=February 20, 2011 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=radaronline.com}}

Winfrey and her partner Stedman Graham have been together since 1986. They were engaged to be married in November 1992, but the ceremony never took place.{{Cite web |date=November 14, 2008 |title=A Look Into the Personal Life of Oprah Winfrey |url=http://oprah.about.com/od/oprahbiography/p/personallife.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701015847/http://oprah.about.com/od/oprahbiography/p/personallife.htm |archive-date=July 1, 2015 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Oprah.about.com}}

File:Oprah Winfrey (2004).jpg

Winfrey's best friend since their early twenties is Gayle King. King was formerly the host of The Gayle King Show and is currently an editor of O, the Oprah Magazine. Since 1997, when Winfrey played the therapist on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in which Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet, Winfrey and King have been the target of persistent rumors that they were gay. "I understand why people think we're gay," Winfrey says in the August 2006 issue of O magazine. "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?"{{Cite web |last=Lehner |first=Marla |date=July 18, 2006 |title=Oprah: Gayle and I Are Not Gay |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,26334,1215402,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421013629/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C26334%2C1215402%2C00.html |archive-date=April 21, 2007 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |website=People}} "I've told nearly everything there is to tell. All my stuff is out there. People think I'd be so ashamed of being gay that I wouldn't admit it? Oh, please."

Winfrey has also had a long friendship with Maria Shriver, after they met in Baltimore.{{Cite journal |last=Hernandez |first=Greg |date=May 2004 |title=Balancing Act |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwQEAAAAMBAJ&q=winfrey+shriver&pg=PA55 |url-status=live |journal=Orange Coast Magazine |page=55 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163819/https://books.google.com/books?id=jwQEAAAAMBAJ&q=winfrey+shriver&pg=PA55#v=snippet&q=winfrey%20shriver&f=false |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=October 27, 2020}}{{Cite web |date=October 23, 2007 |title=ABC News: Shriver Struggles With Kennedy Legacy |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3776919&page=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203224213/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3776919&page=1 |archive-date=February 3, 2011 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=ABC News}} Winfrey considered Maya Angelou, author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, her mentor and close friend; she called Angelou her "mother-sister-friend".{{Cite web |last=Winfrey |first=Oprah |title=Oprah's cut with Maya Angelou |url=http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-interviews-maya-angelou |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413210625/http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/oprahscut/omag_200012_maya |archive-date=April 13, 2009 |access-date=January 8, 2018 |publisher=Oprah.com}} Winfrey hosted a week-long Caribbean cruise for Angelou and 150 guests for Angelou's 70th birthday in 1998, and in 2008, threw her "an extravagant 80th birthday celebration" at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090813052248/http://mayaangelou.com/news/1/ Article from USA Today]. Maya Angelou official website. Retrieved September 18, 2010.

Born in rural poverty, and raised by a mother dependent on government welfare payments in a poor urban neighborhood, Winfrey became a millionaire at the age of 32 when her talk show received national syndication. Winfrey negotiated ownership rights to the television program and started her own production company. At the age of 41, Winfrey had a net worth of $340 million and replaced Bill Cosby as the only African American on the Forbes 400.{{Cite magazine |last=Fletcher |first=Dan |date=May 25, 2010 |title=7. Oprah The Billionaire |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1939458_1939454_1939448,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119125949/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1939458_1939454_1939448,00.html |archive-date=November 19, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |magazine=Time}} By 2000, with a net worth of $800 million, Winfrey is believed to have been the richest African American of the 20th century. There has been a course taught at the University of Illinois focusing on Winfrey's business acumen; namely, "History 298: Oprah Winfrey, the Tycoon".{{Cite web |last=Mills |first=Marja |date=March 7, 2001 |title=Oprah College Course |url=http://www.racematters.org/oprahcollegecourse.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611065707/http://www.racematters.org/oprahcollegecourse.htm |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |publisher=Race Matters}} Winfrey was the highest-paid television entertainer in the United States in 2006, earning an estimated $260 million during the year, five times the sum earned by second-place music executive Simon Cowell.{{Cite news |date=July 25, 2007 |title=Oprah tops list of highest paid TV stars |url=http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=767a3fa6-35e5-45d4-a64d-446281425c75&k=52038 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011203425/http://canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=767a3fa6-35e5-45d4-a64d-446281425c75&k=52038 |archive-date=October 11, 2007 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |agency=Canada.com (Reuters)}} By 2008, her yearly income had increased to $275 million.{{Cite magazine |date=June 11, 2008 |title=#1 Oprah Winfrey |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/53/celebrities08_Oprah-Winfrey_O0ZT.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417173952/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/53/celebrities08_Oprah-Winfrey_O0ZT.html |archive-date=April 17, 2014 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |magazine=Forbes}}

Forbes{{'}} list of The World's Billionaires has listed Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire from 2004 to 2006 and as the first black woman billionaire in the world that was achieved in 2003. One of the richest celebrities ever, as of 2014, Winfrey had a net worth in excess of 2.9 billion dollars{{Cite news |title=Oprah Winfrey |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420034528/https://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/ |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |work=Forbes}} and had overtaken former eBay CEO Meg Whitman as the richest self-made woman in America.{{efn|Forbes magazine says there are only 10 self-made women billionaires in the world and Winfrey is the richest of the 4 listed as U.S. billionaires.Forbes magazine March 26, 2007, p. 160.}}

Oprah was raised a Baptist. In her early life, she would speak at local, mostly African American congregations of the Southern Baptist Convention that were often deeply religious and familiar with such themes as evangelical Protestantism, the Black church, and being born-again.Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery: An Essay on Popular Culture by Eva Illou, THE ROLE OF THE BLACK CHURCHOprah Winfrey: Global Media Leader by Katherine E. Krohn, pg. 14{{Cite book |last=Garson |first=Helen S. |title=Oprah Winfrey: A Biography |date=2011-05-26 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-35833-3 |edition=2nd |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VIHDEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 34]}}

She was quoted as saying: "I have church with myself: I have church walking down the street. I believe in the God force that lives inside all of us, and once you tap into that, you can do anything."{{Cite book |last=Lowe, Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yyB8PpIOiSUC |title=Oprah Winfrey Speaks: Insights from the World's Most Influential Voice |date=January 22, 2001 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-39994-0 |page=122}} She also stated, "Doubt means don't. When you don't know what to do, do nothing until you do know what to do. Because the doubt is your inner voice or the voice of God or whatever you choose to call it. It is your instinct trying to tell you something is off. That's how I have found myself to be led spiritually, because that's your spiritual voice saying to you, 'let's think about it.' So when you don't know what to do, do nothing."[http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahshow/oprah-on-why-doubt-means-dont-video/ Oprah on Why "Doubt Means Don't"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106161802/https://www.oprah.com/own-oprahshow/oprah-on-why-doubt-means-dont-video/ |date=January 6, 2022 }}. The Oprah Winfrey Show. Retrieved November 5, 2018.

Oprah has stated that she is a Christian and her favorite Bible verse is Acts 17:28.{{Cite web |date=January 28, 2014 |title=Oprah's Christian Faith |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oprahs-christian-faith_n_5b4f8d19e4b00e8c8eb71dd2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206104707/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oprahs-christian-faith_n_5b4f8d19e4b00e8c8eb71dd2 |archive-date=February 6, 2021 |access-date=February 3, 2021 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}

Oprah attends The Potter's House, an Evangelical church in Dallas.

After the loss of her infant child at age 14, Winfrey did not want more children. In a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, she explained "I didn't want babies. I wouldn't have been a good mom for babies. I don't have the patience. I have the patience for puppies but that's a quick stage!"{{Cite magazine |date=2017-02-24 |title=Oprah Winfrey, "Mother to the World's Children," Doesn't Regret Not Having Her Own |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/02/oprah-winfrey-doesnt-regret-not-having-kids |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326062609/http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/02/oprah-winfrey-doesnt-regret-not-having-kids |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |access-date=2024-01-26 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}

File:Oprah Winfrey 2010.jpg]]

Winfrey was called "arguably the world's most powerful woman" by CNN and TIME,{{Cite magazine |date=March 12, 2001 |title=2001 Global Influentials: 19. Oprah Winfrey |url=http://www.time.com/time/2001/influentials/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510155730/http://www.time.com/time/2001/influentials/ |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |magazine=Time}} "arguably the most influential woman in the world" by The American Spectator,{{Cite web |last=Tamny |first=John |title=The American Spectator |url=http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11402 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154526/http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11402 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Spectator.org}} "one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th Century" and "one of the most influential people" from 2004 to 2011 by TIME. Winfrey is the only person to have appeared in the latter list on ten occasions.{{Cite magazine |last=Obama |first=Michelle |date=April 30, 2009 |title=The 2008 TIME 100 |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733756_1735241,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505053740/https://time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733756_1735241,00.html |archive-date=May 5, 2008 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |magazine=Time}}

At the end of the 20th century, Life listed Winfrey as both the most influential woman and the most influential black person of her generation, and in a cover story profile the magazine called her "America's most powerful woman".{{Cite magazine |title=The 50 Most Influential Boomers |url=http://www.life.com/Life/boomers/50boomers01.html#05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127042315/http://www.life.com/Life/boomers/50boomers01.html#05 |archive-date=January 27, 2007 |access-date=March 6, 2007 |magazine=Life}} In 2007, USA Today ranked Winfrey as the most influential woman and most influential black person of the previous quarter-century.{{Cite news |date=September 3, 2007 |title=Most influential people |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-influential.htm?loc=interstitialskip |access-date=August 26, 2010 |work=USA Today}} Ladies' Home Journal also ranked Winfrey number one in their list of the most powerful women in America and then Senator Barack Obama in 2007 said she "may be the most influential woman in the country".{{Cite news |date=October 19, 2006 |title=Interview With Barack Obama |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/19/lkl.01.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070328220741/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/19/lkl.01.html |archive-date=March 28, 2007 |access-date=March 6, 2007 |work=Larry King Live |publisher=CNN}} In 1998, Winfrey became the first woman and first African American to top Entertainment Weekly{{'s}} list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry.{{Cite news |year=1998 |title=Oprah Winfrey named most powerful person in entertainment industry |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n24_v94/ai_21257357 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208223131/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n24_v94/ai_21257357 |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |work=Jet}} Forbes named her the world's most powerful celebrity in 2005,{{Cite news |date=June 17, 2005 |title=Oprah Tops Powerful Celebs List |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oprah-tops-powerful-celebs-list/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105143607/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/16/entertainment/main702512.shtml |archive-date=January 5, 2009 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |publisher=CBS News |agency=Associated Press}} 2007,{{Cite news |date=June 14, 2007 |title=Oprah 'most powerful celebrity' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6753847.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115191059/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6753847.stm |archive-date=January 15, 2009 |access-date=May 20, 2010 |work=BBC News}} 2008, 2010,{{Cite news |title=Oprah Back Atop the Forbes Celebrity 100 List |url=https://www.tvguide.com/News/Oprah-Atop-Forbes-1020004.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106062352/http://www.tvguide.com/news/oprah-atop-forbes-1020004.aspx |archive-date=November 6, 2014 |access-date=February 19, 2020 |work=TV Guide}} and 2013.{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2013 |title=Oprah Winfrey, célébrité la plus puissante de l'année 2013 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2013/06/26/03004-20130626ARTFIG00462-oprah-winfrey-celebrite-la-plus-puissante-de-l-annee-2013.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721211834/http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2013/06/26/03004-20130626ARTFIG00462-oprah-winfrey-celebrite-la-plus-puissante-de-l-annee-2013.php |archive-date=July 21, 2014 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |website=Le Figaro}}

As chairman of Harpo Inc., she was named the most powerful woman in entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter in 2008.{{Cite news |last1=Dobuzinskis |first1=Alex |last2=Serjeant |first2=Jill |date=December 7, 2008 |title=Oprah named entertainment's most powerful woman |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-winfrey-idUSTRE4B46KG20081207 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402225914/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/12/07/us-winfrey-idUSTRE4B46KG20081207 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=January 31, 2015 |work=Reuters}} She has been listed as one of the world's 100 most powerful women by Forbes, ranking 14th in 2014 and 31st in 2023.{{Cite magazine |title=The world's 100 most powerful women |url=https://www.forbes.com/wealth/power-women#p_2_s_arank |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912211404/http://www.forbes.com/wealth/power-women#p_2_s_arank |archive-date=September 12, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2011 |magazine=Forbes}}{{Cite web |title=The World's Most Powerful Women 2023 |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/ |website=Forbes |language=en}} In 2010, Life magazine named Winfrey one of the 100 people who changed the world, alongside Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Winfrey was the only living woman to make the list.Life: "100 people who changed the world", August 20, 2010.

Columnist Maureen Dowd seems to agree with such assessments. Interviewed by The Guardian in 2006, Dowd said: "She is the top alpha female in this country. She has more credibility than the president. Other successful women, such as Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart, had to be publicly slapped down before they could move forward. Even Condi has had to play the protégé with Bush. None of this happened to Oprah – she is a straight ahead success story."{{Cite news |last=Mackensie |first=Susie |date=March 11, 2006 |title=Woman of mass derision |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/mar/11/features.pressandpublishing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163748/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/mar/11/features.pressandpublishing |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=March 18, 2021 |work=The Guardian |location=UK}} Vanity Fair wrote: "Oprah Winfrey arguably has more influence on the culture than any university president, politician, or religious leader, except perhaps the Pope.{{Cite web |last=Harrow |first=Susan |title=Inside the Book... The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah |url=http://www.prsecrets.com/store/inside-oprah-book.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923013545/http://www.prsecrets.com/store/inside-oprah-book.html |archive-date=September 23, 2008 |access-date=March 12, 2007 |publisher=PRSecrets.com}} Bill O'Reilly said: "this is a woman that came from nothing to rise up to be the most powerful woman, I think, in the world. I think Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in the world, not just in America. That's – anybody who goes on her program immediately benefits through the roof. I mean, she has a loyal following; she has credibility; she has talent; and she's done it on her own to become fabulously wealthy and fabulously powerful."Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, October 17, 2006.

In 2005, Winfrey was named the greatest woman in American history as part of a public poll as part of The Greatest American. She was ranked No. 9 overall on the list of greatest Americans. However, polls estimating Winfrey's personal popularity have been inconsistent. A November 2003 Gallup poll estimated that 73% of American adults had a favorable view of Winfrey. Another Gallup poll in January 2007 estimated the figure at 74%, although it dropped to 66% when Gallup conducted the same poll in October 2007. A December 2007 Fox News poll put the figure at 55%.{{Cite web |last=Panagopoulos |first=Costas |date=April 7, 2008 |title=Obama supporter Oprah takes a big dive – Costas Panagopoulos |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2008/04/obama-supporter-oprah-takes-a-big-dive-009427 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109181127/https://www.politico.com/story/2008/04/obama-supporter-oprah-takes-a-big-dive-009427 |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |access-date=January 8, 2018 |website=Politico}} According to Gallup's annual most admired poll, Americans consistently rank Winfrey as one of the most admired women in the world. Her highest rating came in 2007{{Cite web |date=December 26, 2008 |title=Obama, Hillary Clinton Share "Most Admired" Billing |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/113572/Obama-Hillary-Clinton-Share-Most-Admired-Billing.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506235451/http://www.gallup.com/poll/113572/Obama-Hillary-Clinton-Share-Most-Admired-Billing.aspx |archive-date=May 6, 2009 |access-date=May 4, 2009 |publisher=Gallup.com}} when she was statistically tied with Hillary Clinton for first place.{{Cite news |date=December 26, 2007 |title=Clinton Closes Gap with Bush As Nation's 'Most Admired Man' |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/26/clinton-closes-gap-with-bush-as-nations-most-admired-man/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106161820/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/26/clinton-closes-gap-with-bush-as-nations-most-admired-man/ |archive-date=January 6, 2022 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=CNN}} In a list compiled by the British magazine New Statesman in September 2010, she was voted 38th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".{{Cite web |title=38. Oprah Winfrey – 50 People Who Matter 2010 |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2010/09/host-oprah-obama-matter |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004025238/http://www.newstatesman.com/broadcast/2010/09/host-oprah-obama-matter |archive-date=October 4, 2010 |access-date=October 8, 2010 |website=New Statesman |location=UK}}

In 1989, she was accepted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |last=McDougal |first=Dennis |date=November 8, 1989 |title=Winfrey accepted into Hall of Fame |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-08-ca-1171-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822050026/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-11-08/entertainment/ca-1171_1_image-award |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |access-date=August 5, 2016 |website=Los Angeles Times}}

The Wall Street Journal coined the term "Oprahfication", meaning public confession as a form of therapy.[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/april1/1.38.html "The Church of O"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607163721/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/april1/church-oprah-winfrey.html |date=June 7, 2024 }}, Christianity Today April 1, 2002. Retrieved August 26, 2010. By confessing intimate details about her weight problems, tumultuous love life, and sexual abuse, and crying alongside her guests, Winfrey has been credited by Time magazine with creating a new form of media communication known as "rapport talk" as distinguished from the "report talk" of Phil Donahue: "Winfrey saw television's power to blend public and private; while it links strangers and conveys information over public airwaves, TV is most often viewed in the privacy of our homes. Like a family member, it sits down to meals with us and talks to us in the lonely afternoons. Grasping this paradox, ... She makes people care because she cares. That is Winfrey's genius, and will be her legacy, as the changes she has wrought in the talk show continue to permeate our culture and shape our lives."[https://web.archive.org/web/20080306191132/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988512-2,00.html "The TV Host"], Time, June 8, 1998. Retrieved September 17, 2010.

Observers have also noted the "Oprahfication" of politics such as "Oprah-style debates" and Bill Clinton being described as "the man who brought Oprah-style psychobabble and misty confessions to politics".{{Cite news |date=May 7, 2002 |title=Clinton as TV host? The thought doesn't rate |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/06/1019441475691.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205084001/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/05/06/1019441475691.html |archive-date=February 5, 2018 |access-date=February 19, 2020 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}} Newsweek stated: "Every time a politician lets his lip quiver or a cable anchor 'emotes' on TV, they nod to the cult of confession that Oprah helped create."{{Cite web |last=Darman |first=Jonathan |title=The Story Behind Oprah's Riveting Show – Newsweek National News |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079174/site/newsweek |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618174011/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11079174/site/newsweek |archive-date=June 18, 2006 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=MSNBC}}

The November 1988 Ms. observed that "in a society where fat is taboo, she made it in a medium that worships thin and celebrates a bland, white-bread prettiness of body and personality [...] But Winfrey made fat sexy, elegant – damned near gorgeous – with her drop-dead wardrobe, easy body language, and cheerful sensuality."Kelley, Kitty. Oprah: A Biography (Crown Archetype, New York, 2010); {{ISBN|978-0-307-39486-6}}.

While Phil Donahue has been credited with pioneering the tabloid talk show genre, Winfrey's warmth, intimacy, and personal confession popularized and changed it. Her success at popularizing the tabloid talk show genre opened up a thriving industry that has included Ricki Lake, The Jenny Jones Show, and The Jerry Springer Show. In the book Freaks Talk Back,{{Cite web |title=An interview and excerpt from Freaks Talk Back |url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/280640.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528182147/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/280640.html |archive-date=May 28, 2012 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}} Yale sociology professor Joshua Gamson credits the tabloid talk show genre with providing much needed high-impact media visibility for gay, bisexual, transsexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and doing more to make them mainstream and socially acceptable than any other development of the 20th century. In the book's editorial review, Michael Bronski wrote, "In the recent past, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered people had almost no presence on television. With the invention and propagation of tabloid talk shows such as Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, Oprah, and Geraldo, people outside the sexual mainstream now appear in living rooms across America almost every day of the week."Gamson, Joshua (1999) University Of Chicago Press {{ISBN|0-226-28065-9}} Gamson credits the tabloid talk show with making alternative sexual orientations and identities more acceptable in mainstream society. Examples include a Time magazine article{{page needed|date=January 2017}} on early 21st-century gays coming out of the closet at an increasingly younger age and on plummeting gay suicide rates. Gamson also believes that tabloid talk shows caused gays to be accepted on more traditional forms of media.

In April 1997, Winfrey played the therapist in "The Puppy Episode" on the sitcom Ellen to whom the character (and the real-life Ellen DeGeneres) came out as a lesbian.

The power of Winfrey's opinions and endorsement to influence public opinion, especially consumer purchasing choices, has been dubbed "the Oprah Effect".{{Cite web |last=Quintanilla |first=Carlos |title=The Oprah Effect |url=https://www.cnbc.com/the-oprah-effect/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420011214/http://www.cnbc.com/id/29961298/ |archive-date=April 20, 2011 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=CNBC}} The effect has been documented or alleged in domains as diverse as book sales, beef markets, and election voting. Late in 1996,{{Cite web |title=Oprah's Book Club Archive |url=http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/pastselections/20080701_orig_list |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105144342/http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/pastselections/20080701_orig_list |archive-date=January 5, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Oprah.com}} Winfrey introduced the Oprah's Book Club segment to her television show. The segment focused on new books and classics and often brought obscure novels to popular attention. The book club became such a powerful force that whenever Winfrey introduced a new book as her book-club selection, it instantly became a best-seller; for example, when she selected the classic John Steinbeck novel East of Eden, it soared to the top of the book charts. Being recognized by Winfrey often means a million additional book sales for an author.[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/23/books/23oprah.html?scp=1&sq=%22oprah%27s+book+club%22&st=nyt "Oprah's Book Club to Add Contemporary Writers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524122150/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/23/books/23oprah.html?scp=1&sq=%22oprah%27s+book+club%22&st=nyt |date=May 24, 2013 }} The New York Times article. September 23, 2005. Retrieved September 18, 2010. In Reading with Oprah: The Book Club that Changed America (2005), Kathleen Rooney describes Winfrey as "a serious American intellectual who pioneered the use of electronic media, specifically television and the Internet, to take reading – a decidedly non-technological and highly individual act – and highlight its social elements and uses in such a way to motivate millions of erstwhile non-readers to pick up books."

When author Jonathan Franzen's book was selected for the Book Club, he reportedly "cringed" and said selected books tend to be "schmaltzy".{{Cite web |last=Elliot |first=Jane |title=Jonathan Franzen and Oprah |url=http://bitchmagazine.org/article/franzen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026000249/http://bitchmagazine.org/article/franzen |archive-date=October 26, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |website=Bitchmagazine.org}} After James Frey's A Million Little Pieces was found to contain fabrications in 2006, Winfrey confronted him on her show over the breach of trust. In 2009, Winfrey apologized to Frey for the public confrontation.{{Cite news |title=Oprah Apologizes to Author James Frey |url=https://www.tvguide.com/News/Oprah-Apologizes-Author-1006075.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517124623/http://www.tvguide.com/News/Oprah-Apologizes-Author-1006075.aspx |archive-date=May 17, 2009 |access-date=May 14, 2009 |work=TV Guide}} During a show about mad cow disease with Howard Lyman (aired on April 16, 1996), Winfrey said she was stopped cold from eating another burger. Texas cattlemen sued her and Lyman in early 1998 for "false defamation of perishable food" and "business disparagement," claiming that Winfrey's remarks sent cattle prices tumbling, costing beef producers $11 million. Winfrey was represented by attorney Chip Babcock and, on February 26, after a two-month trial in an Amarillo, Texas, court, a jury found Winfrey and Lyman were not liable for damages.{{Cite news |date=February 26, 1998 |title=Oprah: 'Free speech rocks' |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9802/26/oprah.verdict/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006060345/http://www.cnn.com/US/9802/26/oprah.verdict/ |archive-date=October 6, 2009 |publisher=CNN}}{{Cite news |last1=Snyder |first1=Susan |last2=Roebuck |first2=Jeremy |date=June 9, 2012 |title=Sandusky jury has strong Penn State ties |url=http://articles.philly.com/2012-06-09/news/32125098_1_judge-john-m-cleland-jury-room-sandusky-jury |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061809/http://articles.philly.com/2012-06-09/news/32125098_1_judge-john-m-cleland-jury-room-sandusky-jury |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=July 7, 2014 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer}} Winfrey's ability to launch other successful talk shows such as Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show, and Rachael Ray has also been cited as examples of "The Oprah Effect".{{Cite web |date=May 27, 2009 |title='The Oprah Effect' – How Oprah's Endorsement Helps Companies |url=http://www.accesshollywood.com/the-oprah-effect-how-oprahs-endorsement-helps-companies_article_18508 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006101421/http://www.accesshollywood.com/the-oprah-effect-how-oprahs-endorsement-helps-companies_article_18508 |archive-date=October 6, 2012 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=Access Hollywood}}

Matthew Baum and Angela Jamison performed an experiment testing their hypothesis, "Politically unaware individuals who consume soft news will be more likely to vote consistently than their counterparts who do not consume soft news".{{Cite journal |last1=Baum |first1=Matthew A. |last2=Jamison |first2=Angela S. |year=2006 |title=The Oprah Effect: How Soft News Helps Inattentive Citizens Vote Consistently |journal=The Journal of Politics |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=946–959 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00482.x |issn=0022-3816 |s2cid=32777635}} In their studies, they found that low-awareness individuals who watch soft news shows, such as The Oprah Winfrey Show are 14% more likely to vote consistently than low-awareness individuals who only watch hard news.

File:Oprah Winfrey with Barack and Michelle Obama.jpg and Michelle Obama on the campaign trail (December 10, 2007).]]

Winfrey states she is a political independent who has "earned the right to think for myself and to vote for myself".{{Cite web |title=Oprah Winfrey says if you don't vote, you are 'dishonoring your family' at Stacey Abrams rally |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/01/oprah-winfrey-stacey-abrams/1846850002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204000427/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/11/01/oprah-winfrey-stacey-abrams/1846850002/ |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=November 1, 2018 |website=USA Today}} She endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.{{Cite web |date=September 6, 2007 |title=Can the Oprah Effect Make Obama President? |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3565754&page=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124083905/http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3565754&page=1 |archive-date=January 24, 2012 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=ABC News}}{{Cite web |date=August 6, 2008 |title=The Oprah Effect on Obama |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/the-oprah-effec.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011083652/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/the-oprah-effec.html |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=ABC News}}{{Cite news |date=August 8, 2008 |title=The Oprah Effect: One Million Votes, Study Says |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/08/the-oprah-effect-one-mill_n_117685.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310044909/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/08/the-oprah-effect-one-mill_n_117685.html |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |work=HuffPost}} On September 25, 2006, Winfrey made her first endorsement of Obama for president on Larry King Live, the first time she endorsed a political candidate running for office.{{Cite news |last=Zeleny |first=Jeff |date=May 3, 2007 |title=Oprah Endorses Obama |url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/oprah-endorses-obama-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709070421/https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/oprah-endorses-obama-2/ |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |access-date=August 13, 2011 |work=The New York Times}} Two economists estimate that Winfrey's endorsement was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary race{{Cite news |last=Levitt |first=Steven D. |date=August 6, 2008 |title=So Much for One Person, One Vote |url=http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/so-much-for-one-person-one-vote/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421221521/http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/so-much-for-one-person-one-vote/ |archive-date=April 21, 2010 |access-date=May 7, 2010 |work=The New York Times}} and that without it, Obama would have lost the nomination.[http://www.econ.umd.edu/~garthwaite/celebrityendorsements_garthwaitemoore.pdf The Role of Celebrity Endorsements in Politics: Oprah, Obama, and the 2008 Democratic Primary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205214204/http://www.econ.umd.edu/~garthwaite/celebrityendorsements_garthwaitemoore.pdf |date=February 5, 2009 }}. Winfrey held a fundraiser for Obama on September 8, 2007, at her Santa Barbara estate. In December 2007, Winfrey joined Obama for a series of rallies in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The Columbia, South Carolina, event on December 9, 2007, drew a crowd of nearly 30,000, the largest for any political event of 2007.{{Cite web |last=Anburajan |first=Aswini |date=December 9, 2007 |title=About 30,000 see Obama-Oprah In SC |url=http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/09/506930.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210125348/http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/09/506930.aspx |archive-date=December 10, 2007 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=NBC News}} An analysis by two economists at the University of Maryland, College Park estimated that Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for between 420,000 and 1,600,000 votes for Obama in the Democratic primary alone, based on a sample of states that did not include Texas, Michigan, North Dakota, Kansas, or Alaska. The results suggest that in the sampled states, Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for the difference in the popular vote between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.{{Cite web |title=The Role of Celebrity Endorsements in Politics: Oprah, Obama, and the 2008 Democratic Primary |url=http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/stuff_for_blog/celebrityendorsements_garthwaitemoore.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306031823/http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/stuff_for_blog/celebrityendorsements_garthwaitemoore.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2018 |access-date=January 8, 2018}} The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, reported being so impressed by Winfrey's endorsement that he considered offering Winfrey Obama's vacant senate seat, describing Winfrey as "the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president," with "a voice larger than all 100 senators combined".{{Cite news |date=January 29, 2009 |title=Blagojevich on 'Glenn Beck' |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,485046,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207105509/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,485046,00.html |archive-date=February 7, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Fox News Channel}} Winfrey responded by stating that although she was absolutely not interested, she did feel she could be a senator.{{Cite news |date=January 26, 2009 |title=I Think I Could Be Senator Too |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/26/oprah-blagojevich-respons_n_160906.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212020540/http://www.huffingtonpost.com//2009//01//26//oprah-blagojevich-respons_n_160906.html |archive-date=February 12, 2009 |access-date=September 17, 2010 |work=HuffPost}} The Topps trading card company memorialized Oprah's involvement in the campaign by featuring her on a card in a set commemorating Obama's road to the White House.{{Cite news |date=January 20, 2009 |title=President Obama Trading Card Set |url=https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/obama-card-set-providing-industry-boost/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414034054/https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/obama-card-set-providing-industry-boost/ |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |access-date=March 29, 2021 |work=Sports Collectors Daily |language=en-US}}

In April 2014, Winfrey spoke for more than 20 minutes at a fundraiser in Arlington, Virginia, for Lavern Chatman, a candidate in a primary to nominate a Democratic Party candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Winfrey participated in the event even after reports had revealed that Chatman had been found liable in 2001 for her role in a scheme to defraud hundreds of District of Columbia nursing-home employees of at least $1.4 million in owed wages.{{Cite news |last1=Andrews |first1=Helena |author-link1=Helena Andrews |last2=Heil |first2=Emily |date=April 7, 2014 |title=Oprah attends fundraiser for Arlington candidate Lavern Chatman |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2014/04/07/oprah-attends-fundraiser-for-arlington-candidate-lavern-chatman/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422110428/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2014/04/07/oprah-attends-fundraiser-for-arlington-candidate-lavern-chatman/ |archive-date=April 22, 2014 |access-date=April 18, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |publisher=The Reliable Source}}

Winfrey endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and referred to Republican candidate Donald Trump as a "demagogue".{{Cite web |last=McCaskill |first=Nolan |date=October 26, 2016 |title=Oprah: 'You don't have to like her' |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/oprah-winfrey-on-clinton-230148 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220213060056/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/oprah-winfrey-on-clinton-230148 |archive-date=February 13, 2022 |access-date=February 13, 2022 |website=Politico}} In 2018, Winfrey canvassed door-to-door for Georgia gubernatorial Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams{{Cite web |title=Knock Knock — It's Oprah! Winfrey Campaigns for Stacey Abrams as Mogul Says She Won't Run in 2020 |url=https://people.com/politics/oprah-winfrey-campaigns-stacey-abrams-georgia-not-running-president/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101225813/https://people.com/politics/oprah-winfrey-campaigns-stacey-abrams-georgia-not-running-president/ |archive-date=November 1, 2018 |access-date=November 1, 2018 |website=People}}{{Cite web |date=November 2018 |title=Stumping for Abrams, Oprah makes impassioned plea for turnout |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/01/politics/oprah-stacey-abrams-call-to-vote/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105151713/https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/01/politics/oprah-stacey-abrams-call-to-vote/index.html |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |access-date=November 1, 2018 |publisher=CNN}} and donated $500,000 to the March for Our Lives student demonstration in favor of gun control in the United States.{{Cite news |last=Gonzalez |first=Sandra |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Oprah, Steven Spielberg also donating to March For Our Lives, following George Clooney's pledge |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/20/entertainment/oprah-march-for-our-lives-donation/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608103404/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/20/entertainment/oprah-march-for-our-lives-donation/index.html |archive-date=June 8, 2020 |access-date=March 29, 2018 |publisher=CNN}}

Winfrey has at times been the subject of media speculation that she may run for president herself, most notably in the lead-up to the 2020 election in which some reports claimed that she was actively considering launching a campaign for the Democratic nomination.{{Cite web |last=Stelter |first=Brian |date=January 8, 2018 |title=Sources: Oprah Winfrey 'actively thinking' about running for president |url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/01/08/media/oprah-golden-globes/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127100956/http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/08/media/oprah-golden-globes/index.html |archive-date=January 27, 2018 |access-date=February 13, 2022 |publisher=CNN}} Winfrey ultimately denied any plans to run for president, saying in 2018 that while it was "a humbling thing to have people think you can run the country", she "would not be able to do it. It's not a clean business. It would kill me."{{Cite web |last1=Elkin |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Griggs |first2=Brandon |date=July 3, 2018 |title=Oprah Winfrey tells Vogue that a 2020 presidential run would "kill me" |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/03/entertainment/oprah-winfrey-vogue-trnd/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413151013/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/03/entertainment/oprah-winfrey-vogue-trnd/index.html |archive-date=April 13, 2022 |access-date=April 13, 2022 |website=CNN}} Winfrey suggested that she would publicly endorse a candidate in the 2020 Democratic primaries, however she ultimately did not do so.{{Cite web |date=May 1, 2019 |title=The Latest: Winfrey boosts Biden at get-out-the-vote event |url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/30/oprah-quietly-figuring-out-how-to-wield-her-political-clout-in-2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118172726/https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/30/oprah-quietly-figuring-out-how-to-wield-her-political-clout-in-2020 |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |publisher=Reuters}} She later campaigned for Joe Biden during the general election.{{Cite web |date=October 29, 2020 |title=The Latest: Winfrey boosts Biden at get-out-the-vote event |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-trump-supporters-delayed-cold-rally-73878759 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621161045/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-trump-supporters-delayed-cold-rally-73878759 |archive-date=June 21, 2021 |access-date=February 13, 2022 |publisher=ABC News}}

In early 2018, Winfrey met with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, when he visited the United States."[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/saudi-prince-mohammed-us-tour-hollywood-harvard-silicon-valley-dwayne-johnson-rupert-murdoch-oprah-a8293456.html Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman toured Hollywood, Harvard and Silicon Valley on US visit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523102053/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/saudi-prince-mohammed-us-tour-hollywood-harvard-silicon-valley-dwayne-johnson-rupert-murdoch-oprah-a8293456.html |date=May 23, 2018 }}". The Independent. April 7, 2018.

File:Public Swearing In (52643733982).jpg

In the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate election, Winfrey endorsed Democrat John Fetterman over Republican Mehmet Oz, whose show she promoted.{{Cite news |last=Ahn |first=Ashley |date=2022-11-04 |title=Oprah rejects her protégé Dr. Oz and backs Democrat John Fetterman in Pa. senate race |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/11/04/1134340900/oprah-dr-oz-fetterman-pennsylvania-senate-endorsement |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105023325/https://www.npr.org/2022/11/04/1134340900/oprah-dr-oz-fetterman-pennsylvania-senate-endorsement |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |access-date=2022-11-05 |work=NPR |language=en}} In the 2022 Maryland gubernatorial election, she endorsed Baltimore author Wes Moore in the Democratic primary, co-hosting a virtual fundraiser for him in June.{{Cite news |last1=DePuyt |first1=Bruce |last2=Kurtz |first2=Josh |date=May 31, 2022 |title=Political Notes: Moore Getting the Oprah Treatment, Schulz Sticks to the Script, and Gansler Lays Out Crime Plan |url=https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/05/31/political-notes-moore-getting-the-oprah-treatment-schulz-sticks-to-the-script-and-gansler-lays-out-crime-plan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602070240/https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/05/31/political-notes-moore-getting-the-oprah-treatment-schulz-sticks-to-the-script-and-gansler-lays-out-crime-plan/ |archive-date=June 2, 2022 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |work=Maryland Matters}}{{Cite news |last=Navarro |first=Aaron |date=July 7, 2022 |title=Oprah voices ad for Maryland Democratic candidate for governor Wes Moore |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oprah-maryland-candidate-governor-wes-moore/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707234951/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oprah-maryland-candidate-governor-wes-moore/ |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |access-date=July 7, 2022 |work=CBS News}} Winfrey later attended and spoke at Moore's gubernatorial inauguration on January 18, 2023.{{Cite news |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Oprah among big names attending Wes Moore's historic inauguration |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/oprah-among-other-big-names-attend-wes-moores-historic-inauguration/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607164730/https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/oprah-among-other-big-names-attend-wes-moores-historic-inauguration/ |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |work=CBS Baltimore}}{{Cite news |last=Gaskill |first=Hannah |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Oprah Winfrey attends Maryland Gov.-elect Wes Moore's inauguration |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-winfrey-moore-20230118-fkut5hjv4zdedhdz5ukp4up2om-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118172725/https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-winfrey-moore-20230118-fkut5hjv4zdedhdz5ukp4up2om-story.html |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |work=The Baltimore Sun}}

In 2022, Winfrey set up OWN Your Vote, a nonpartisan group dedicated to voter registration and a get-out-the-vote campaign focused on providing Black women with tools and resources to vote in the November election.{{Cite web |last=jbkatz |date=October 6, 2022 |title=Voter Suppression – Voter Tutorial – Part – Amazing Black History |url=https://amazingblackhistory.com/2022/10/06/voter-suppression-voter-tutorial-part/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204180955/https://amazingblackhistory.com/2022/10/06/voter-suppression-voter-tutorial-part/ |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |language=en-US}} Their partners include Advancement Project, African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Color Of Change, Delta Sigma Theta sorority, The King Center, The Lawyers' Committee, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Action Network, National Bar Association, National Council of Negro Women, Sigma Gamma Rho, Southern Poverty Law Center, VoteRunLead, and Vote.org.{{Cite web |date=September 24, 2020 |title=Advancement Project National Office joins Oprah Winfrey, NAACP for OWN Your Vote National Town Hall |url=https://advancementproject.org/news/advancement-project-national-office-joins-oprah-winfrey-naacp-for-own-your-vote-national-town-hall/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204194804/https://advancementproject.org/news/advancement-project-national-office-joins-oprah-winfrey-naacp-for-own-your-vote-national-town-hall/ |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Advancement Project}}{{Cite web |last=Kaylor |first=Brian |date=2020-09-30 |title=Black Church Turnout Effort Mobilizes Against Alleged Voter Suppression |url=https://wordandway.org/2020/09/30/black-church-turnout-effort-mobilizes-against-alleged-voter-suppression/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204194805/https://wordandway.org/2020/09/30/black-church-turnout-effort-mobilizes-against-alleged-voter-suppression/ |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=Word&Way |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=O'Connell |first=Mikey |date=2020-07-31 |title=Oprah Winfrey Network Launches Election Initiative "OWN Your Vote" (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/oprah-winfrey-network-launches-own-your-vote-election-initiative-1305305/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204194802/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/oprah-winfrey-network-launches-own-your-vote-election-initiative-1305305/ |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Breaking News - OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Announces 2020 Own Your Vote Initiative {{!}} TheFutonCritic.com |url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2020/07/31/own-oprah-winfrey-network-announces-2020-own-your-vote-initiative-680400/20200731own01/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607164738/http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2020/07/31/own-oprah-winfrey-network-announces-2020-own-your-vote-initiative-680400/20200731own01/ |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=www.thefutoncritic.com}}{{Cite web |title=OWN Your Vote - The Shorty Awards |url=http://shortyawards.com/2021-impact/own-your-vote |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204201616/https://shortyawards.com/2021-impact/own-your-vote |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=shortyawards.com}}{{Cite web |title=Corporate Partnerships |url=https://www.sgrho1922.org/SGR/sgr/Corporate_Partnerships.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204194802/https://www.sgrho1922.org/SGR/sgr/Corporate_Partnerships.aspx |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=www.sgrho1922.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=In the News |url=https://www.voterunlead.org/in_the_news |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204194805/https://www.voterunlead.org/in_the_news |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=VoteRunLead |language=en}}

On August 21, 2024, Winfrey endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.{{Cite magazine |date=2024-08-22 |title=Full Transcript: Oprah's 2024 DNC Speech |url=https://time.com/7013825/read-oprah-winfrey-2024-dnc-speech-full-transcript/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}

In 2000, she was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.{{Cite web |title=NAACP Spingarn Medal |url=http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707184346/http://www.naacp.org/pages/spingarn-medal-winners |archive-date=July 7, 2010 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |publisher=Naacp.org}} In 2002, Christianity Today published an article called "The Church of O" in which they concluded that Winfrey had emerged as an influential spiritual leader. "Since 1994, when she abandoned traditional talk-show fare for more edifying content, and 1998, when she began 'Change Your Life TV', Oprah's most significant role has become that of a spiritual leader. To her audience of more than 22 million mostly female viewers, she has become a postmodern priestess—an icon of church-free spirituality." The sentiment was echoed by Marcia Z. Nelson in her book The Gospel According to Oprah.{{Cite web |title=Books – Marcia Z. Nelson: 'The Gospel According to Oprah' |url=http://www.cbn.com/entertainment/books/jej_marciaznelson1105.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529055634/http://www.cbn.com/entertainment/books/jej_marciaznelson1105.aspx |archive-date=May 29, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Cbn.com}} Since the mid-1990s, Winfrey's show has emphasized uplifting and inspirational topics and themes and some viewers say the show has motivated them to perform acts of altruism such as helping Congolese women and building an orphanage.[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=1 "From 'Oprah' to Building a Sisterhood in Congo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813014211/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=1 |date=August 13, 2017 }}, The New York Times. February 3, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2010. A scientific study by psychological scientists at the University of Cambridge, University of Plymouth, and University of California used an uplifting clip from The Oprah Winfrey Show in an experiment that discovered that watching the 'uplifting' clip caused subjects to become twice as helpful as subjects assigned to watch a British comedy or nature documentary.{{Cite news |date=February 4, 2010 |title=A positive 'elevating' emotion |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/spirituality/self-help/A-positive-elevating-emotion/articleshow/5535211.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214221252/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/spirituality/self-help/A-positive-elevating-emotion/articleshow/5535211.cms |archive-date=February 14, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |work=The Times of India}}{{Cite web |date=February 4, 2010 |title=Emaxhealth.com |url=http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/7/35392/elevation-has-positive-effect-promotes-altruistic-behavior.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209064504/http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/7/35392/elevation-has-positive-effect-promotes-altruistic-behavior.html |archive-date=February 9, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Emaxhealth.com}}

In 1998, Winfrey began an ongoing conversation with Gary Zukav, an American spiritual teacher, who appeared on her television show 35 times.{{Cite journal |date=October 26, 1998 |title=Zukav Rides Oprah's Spiritual Wave |journal=Publishers Weekly}} Winfrey has said she keeps a copy of Zukav's The Seat of the Soul at her bedside, a book that she says is one of her all-time favorites.{{Cite web |date=January 24, 2007 |title=Forging a Spiritual Relationship |url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Forging-a-Spiritual-Relationship |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607164800/https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/forging-a-spiritual-relationship |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=March 30, 2014 |publisher=Harpo Productions}}

On the season premiere of Winfrey's 13th season, Roseanne Barr told Winfrey "you're the African Mother Goddess of us all" inspiring much enthusiasm from the studio audience. The animated series Futurama alluded to her spiritual influence by suggesting that "Oprahism" is a mainstream religion in 3000 AD.{{Cite book |last=Pinsky |first=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/gospelaccordingt0000pins/page/229 |title=The Gospel According to the Simpsons. Bigger and possibly even Better! edition |publisher=Gardners Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-664-23265-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gospelaccordingt0000pins/page/229 229–235] |orig-date=2003}} Twelve days after the September 11 attacks, New York mayor Rudy Giuliani asked Winfrey to serve as host of a Prayer for America service at New York City's Yankee Stadium, which was attended by former president Bill Clinton and New York senator Hillary Clinton.{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Porter |date=September 23, 2011 |title=Prayer service: 'We shall not be moved' |url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2001/US/09/23/vic.yankee.service.report/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309153753/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2001/US/09/23/vic.yankee.service.report/index.html |archive-date=March 9, 2012 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |publisher=CNN}} Leading up to the U.S.-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, less than a month after the September 11 attacks, Winfrey aired a controversial show called "Islam 101" in which she portrayed Islam as a religion of peace, calling it "the most misunderstood of the three major religions".{{Cite web |last=Dreher |first=Rod |date=October 8, 2001 |title=Islam According to Oprah: Is Oprah Winfrey a threat to national security? |url=http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dreher100801.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528022249/http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dreher100801.shtml |archive-date=May 28, 2011 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |website=National Review}} In 2002, George W. Bush invited Winfrey to join a US delegation that included adviser Karen Hughes and Condoleezza Rice, planning to go to Afghanistan to celebrate the return of Afghan girls to school. The "Oprah strategy" was designed to portray the War on Terror in a positive light; however, when Winfrey refused to participate, the trip was postponed.{{Cite web |date=March 30, 2002 |title=No thanks, Oprah tells Bush |url=http://www.news24.com/Entertainment/SouthAfrica/No-thanks-Oprah-tells-Bush-20020330 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526082452/http://www.news24.com/Entertainment/SouthAfrica/No-thanks-Oprah-tells-Bush-20020330 |archive-date=May 26, 2011 |access-date=May 27, 2011 |publisher=News24}}

Leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Winfrey's show received criticism for allegedly having an anti-war bias. Ben Shapiro of Townhall.com wrote: "Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in America. She decides what makes The New York Times Best Seller lists. Her touchy-feely style sucks in audiences at the rate of 14 million viewers per day. But Oprah is far more than a cultural force, she's a dangerous political force as well, a woman with unpredictable and mercurial attitudes toward the major issues of the day."{{Cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Ben |date=March 19, 2003 |title=The Oprah schnook club |url=http://townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2003/03/19/the_oprah_schnook_club |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615155807/http://townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2003/03/19/the_oprah_schnook_club |archive-date=June 15, 2009 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |publisher=Townhall.com}} In 2006, Winfrey recalled such controversies: "I once did a show titled Is War the Only Answer? In the history of my career, I've never received more hate mail – like 'Go back to Africa' hate mail. I was accused of being un-American for even raising the question."O, The Oprah Magazine, October 2006 pg. 367 Filmmaker Michael Moore came to Winfrey's defense, praising her for showing antiwar footage no other media would show{{sfnp|Moore|2003|p=87}} and begging her to run for president.{{sfnp|Moore|2003|pp=255–258}}

A February 2003 series, in which Winfrey showed clips from people all over the world asking America not to go to war, was interrupted in several East Coast markets by network broadcasts of a press conference in which President George W. Bush and Colin Powell summarized the case for war.{{Cite magazine |last=Fletcher |first=Dan |date=November 13, 2009 |title=Top 10 Oprah Controversies |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1939460_1939452_1939457,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119125754/https://time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1939460_1939452_1939457,00.html |archive-date=November 19, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |magazine=Time}}{{Cite press release |title=President Bush: "World Can Rise to This Moment" |date=February 6, 2003 |publisher=Office of the White House Press Secretary |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030206-17.html |access-date=August 25, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228184007/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030206-17.html |archive-date=December 28, 2016}}

In 2007, Winfrey began to endorse the self-help program The Secret. The Secret claims that people can change their lives through positive thoughts or 'vibrations', which will then cause them to attract more positive vibrations that result in good things happening to them. Peter Birkenhead of Salon magazine argued that this idea is pseudoscience and psychologically damaging, as it trivializes important decisions and promotes a quick-fix material culture, and suggests Winfrey's promotion of it is irresponsible given her influence.Birkenhead, Peter. [http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/03/05/the_secret/ Oprah's ugly secret] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430085609/http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/03/05/the_secret/ |date=April 30, 2009 }}, Salon Life, March 5, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2008. In 2007, skeptic and magician James Randi accused Winfrey of being deliberately deceptive and uncritical in how she handles paranormal claims on her show.{{Cite web |last=Randi |first=James |date=March 2, 2007 |title=An Oprah Fiasco |url=http://randi.org/jr/2007-03/030207harpo.html#i1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126144740/http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-03/030207harpo.html#i1 |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |website=Swift |publisher=Randi.org}} In 2008, Winfrey endorsed author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and his book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, which sold several million extra copies after being selected for her book club. During a Webinar class, in which she promoted the book, Winfrey stated "God is a feeling experience and not a believing experience. If your religion is a believing experience [...] then that's not truly God."{{Cite news |date=April 23, 2008 |title=Oprah's 'Church' Video Draws Over 5 Million to YouTube |url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080423/oprah-s-church-video-draws-over-5-million-to-youtube.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628202904/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080423/oprah-s-church-video-draws-over-5-million-to-youtube.htm |archive-date=June 28, 2008 |access-date=April 23, 2008 |work=The Christian Post}} Frank Pastore, a Christian radio talk show host on KKLA, was among the many Christian leaders who criticized Winfrey's views, saying "if she's a Christian, she's an ignorant one because Christianity is incompatible with New Age thought".

Winfrey was named as the 2008 Person of the Year by animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for using her fame and listening audience to help the less fortunate, including animals. PETA praised Winfrey for using her talk show to uncover horrific cases of cruelty to animals in puppy mills and on factory farms, and Winfrey even used the show to highlight the cruelty-free vegan diet that she tried.{{Cite news |date=December 20, 2008 |title=Oprah Winfrey named PETA's 'Person of the Year' |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/Oprah_Winfrey_named_PETAs_Person_of_the_Year/articleshow/3867001.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607164808/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/oprah-winfrey-named-petas-person-of-the-year/articleshow/3867001.cms |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |work=The Times of India}}

File:Oprah Winfrey in Strøget, Denmark on 30 September 2009.jpg

In 2009, Winfrey filmed a series of interviews in Denmark highlighting its citizens as the happiest people in the world. In 2010, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News criticized these shows for promoting a left-wing society.{{Cite news |date=January 15, 2010 |title=Foxnews.com |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583149,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605221359/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583149,00.html |archive-date=June 5, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Fox News Channel}} Following the launch of the Super Soul Sunday and SuperSoul Sessions programs on Harpo Productions' SuperSoul TV, in 2016 Winfrey selected 100 people for the SuperSoul 100 list of "innovators and visionaries who are aligned on a mission to move humanity forward".{{Cite news |date=August 1, 2016 |title=Meet the SuperSoul100: The World's Biggest Trailblazers in One Room |url=http://www.oprah.com/spirit/supersoul100-the-worlds-biggest-trailblazers-in-one-room |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705180050/http://www.oprah.com/spirit/supersoul100-the-worlds-biggest-trailblazers-in-one-room |archive-date=July 5, 2018 |access-date=July 5, 2018 |work=O Magazine |quote="the SuperSoul 100—innovators and visionaries who are aligned on a mission to move humanity forward"}}{{Cite web |last= |year=2018 |title=THE COMPLETE LIST: A COLLECTION OF 100 AWAKENED LEADERS WHO ARE USING THEIR VOICES AND TALENT TO ELEVATE HUMANITY |url=http://www.supersoul.tv/category/supersoul-100/the-complete-list |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804202409/http://www.supersoul.tv/category/supersoul-100/the-complete-list |archive-date=August 4, 2018 |access-date=July 21, 2018 |website=supersoul.tv |publisher=Harpo Productions}}

On using the N-word, Winfrey said, "You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. ... I always think of the...people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree."{{Cite magazine |date=July 31, 2013 |title=Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker Talk Lee Daniels' The Butler, Racism, and the N-word |url=http://www.parade.com/58556/katherineheintzelman/oprah-winfrey-forest-whitaker-talk-lee-daniels-the-butler-racism-and-the-n-word/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806041907/http://www.parade.com/58556/katherineheintzelman/oprah-winfrey-forest-whitaker-talk-lee-daniels-the-butler-racism-and-the-n-word/ |archive-date=August 6, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2013 |magazine=Parade}}

The viewership for The Oprah Winfrey Show was highest during the 1991–92 season, when about 13.1 million U.S. viewers were watching each day. By 2003, ratings declined to 7.4 million daily viewers.{{Cite news |date=December 1, 2011 |title=Jane Pauley to Go Head-to-Head With Oprah |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89493,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513180052/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89493,00.html |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |access-date=April 13, 2012 |publisher=Fox News Channel}} Ratings briefly rebounded to approximately 9 million in 2005 and then declined again to around 7.3 million viewers in 2008, though it remained the highest-rated talk show.{{Cite news |last=Cockcroft |first=Lucy |date=May 27, 2008 |title=Oprah Winfrey Show suffers ratings slump – Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2037083/Oprah-Winfrey-Show-suffers-ratings-slump.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529074820/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2037083/Oprah-Winfrey-Show-suffers-ratings-slump.html |archive-date=May 29, 2008 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK}}

In 2008, Winfrey's show was airing in 140 countries internationally and seen by an estimated 46 million people in the US weekly.{{Cite news |date=September 3, 2008 |title=Oprah throws party for U.S. Olympic medalists |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSN0329753620080903 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103162408/http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSN0329753620080903 |archive-date=January 3, 2009 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |work=Reuters}}{{Cite news |last=MacIntyre |first=James |date=September 29, 2007 |title=Oprah earns £128m to lead TV earnings |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/oprah-earns-pound128m-to-lead-tv-earnings-403883.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/oprah-earns-pound128m-to-lead-tv-earnings-403883.html |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |work=The Independent |location=UK}} According to the Harris poll, Winfrey was America's favorite television personality in 1998, 2000, 2002–06, and 2009. Winfrey was especially popular among women, Democrats, political moderates, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Southern Americans, and East Coast Americans.{{Cite web |title=Oprah Regains Her Position as America's Favorite Television Personality |url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-Entertainment-Television-Oprah-2010-01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717202446/http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-Entertainment-Television-Oprah-2010-01.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=Harris Interactive}}

Outside the U.S., Winfrey has become increasingly popular in the Arab world. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2007 that MBC 4, an Arab satellite channel, centered its entire programming around reruns of her show because it was drawing record numbers of female viewers in Saudi Arabia.NewsMax, May 2007, p. 65.{{full citation needed|date=December 2023}} In 2008, The New York Times reported that The Oprah Winfrey Show, with Arabic subtitles, was broadcast twice each weekday on MBC 4. Winfrey's modest dress, combined with her attitude of triumph over adversity and abuse has caused some women in Saudi Arabia to idealize her.{{Cite news |last=Zoepf |first=Katherine |date=September 18, 2008 |title=Dammam Journal – Saudi Women Find an Unlikely Role Model – Oprah |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/middleeast/19oprah.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411030225/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/world/middleeast/19oprah.html |archive-date=April 11, 2009 |access-date=November 30, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}

File:FEMA - 15330 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-09-2005 in Texas.jpg temporarily sheltered at the Reliant center in Houston following Hurricane Katrina.]]

In 2004, Winfrey became the first Black person to rank among the 50 most generous Americans{{Cite magazine |date=November 28, 2004 |title=Online Extra: A Talk with Oprah Winfrey |url=http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-11-28/online-extra-a-talk-with-oprah-winfrey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830064940/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-11-28/online-extra-a-talk-with-oprah-winfrey |archive-date=August 30, 2012 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |magazine=Bloomberg BusinessWeek}} and she remained among the top 50 until 2010.[http://philanthropy.com/article/The-Philanthropy-50-Americans/64019/ Top 50 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027012411/http://philanthropy.com/article/The-Philanthropy-50-Americans/64019 |date=October 27, 2012 }}, January 11, 2012. By 2012, she had given away about $400 million to educational causes.{{Cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Clare |title=The Education Of Oprah Winfrey: How She Saved Her South African School |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/09/18/the-education-of-oprah-winfrey-how-she-saved-her-south-african-school/2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017092715/https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2012/09/18/the-education-of-oprah-winfrey-how-she-saved-her-south-african-school/2/ |archive-date=October 17, 2017 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |work=Forbes}}

As of 2012, Winfrey had also given over 400 scholarships to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film. To celebrate two decades on national TV, and to thank her employees for their hard work, Winfrey took her staff and their families (1,065 people in total) on vacation to Hawaii in the summer of 2006.{{Cite web |last=Boykin |first=Keith |date=September 19, 2006 |title=Oprah's Back |url=http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2006/09/19/oprahs_back |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101021534/http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2006/09/19/oprahs_back |archive-date=November 1, 2006 |access-date=August 25, 2008 |publisher=keithboykin.com}}

In 2013, Winfrey donated $12 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.{{Cite news |date=June 12, 2013 |title=Oprah Winfrey donates $12 million to Smithsonian |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/oprah-winfrey-donates-12-million-to-smithsonian/2013/06/11/3fe63b4a-d20c-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607165258/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/oprah-winfrey-donates-12-million-to-smithsonian/2013/06/11/3fe63b4a-d20c-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost |archive-date=June 7, 2024 |access-date=June 11, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom later that same year.{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=David |date=November 20, 2013 |title=Obama awards Medal of Freedom to Clinton, Oprah, others |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/20/obama-clinton-oprah-winfrey-dean-smith-ernie-banks/3650113/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131121023533/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/11/20/obama-clinton-oprah-winfrey-dean-smith-ernie-banks/3650113/ |archive-date=November 21, 2013 |access-date=November 20, 2013 |work=USA Today}}

{{Main|Oprah's Angel Network}}

In 1998, Winfrey created Oprah's Angel Network, a charity that supported charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations around the world. Oprah's Angel Network raised more than $80 million ($1 million of which was donated by Jon Bon Jovi). Winfrey personally covered all administrative costs associated with the charity, so 100% of all funds raised went to charity programs. In May 2010, with Oprah's show ending, the charity stopped accepting donations and was shut down.{{Cite news |date=May 26, 2010 |title=Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network Charity To Close Down |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/oprah-winfreys-angel-netw_n_590941.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529175959/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/oprah-winfreys-angel-netw_n_590941.html |archive-date=May 29, 2010 |access-date=February 24, 2016 |work=HuffPost}}{{Cite web |date=May 24, 2010 |title=How to Help – Thank You to Our Donors |url=http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/how-to-help/thank-you-donors |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809132838/http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/how-to-help/thank-you-donors |archive-date=August 9, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2016 |publisher=Opera's Angel Network}}

{{Main|Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls}}

In 2004, Winfrey and her team filmed an episode of her show, "Oprah's Christmas Kindness", in which Winfrey travelled to South Africa to bring attention to the plight of young children affected by poverty and AIDS. During the 21-day trip, Winfrey and her crew visited schools and orphanages in poverty-stricken areas, and distributed Christmas presents to 50,000 children,{{Cite web |title=Christmas Kindness |url=http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/ChristmasKindness-Inspiration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204003048/http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/ChristmasKindness-Inspiration |archive-date=December 4, 2010 |access-date=September 18, 2010 |publisher=Harpo Productions}} with dolls for the girls and soccer balls for the boys, and school supplies. Throughout the show, Winfrey appealed to viewers to donate money to Oprah's Angel Network for poor and AIDS-affected children in Africa. From that show alone, viewers around the world donated over $7 million. Winfrey invested $40 million and some of her time establishing the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley on Klip south of Johannesburg, South Africa. The school, set over 22 acres, opened in January 2007 with an enrollment of 150 pupils (increasing to 450) and features state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science laboratories, a library, a theatre, and a beauty salon. Nelson Mandela praised Winfrey for overcoming her own disadvantaged youth to become a benefactor for others. Critics considered the school elitist and unnecessarily luxurious.{{Cite news |last=McLaren |first=Elsa |date=January 2, 2007 |title=Oprah Winfrey opens school for poor South African girls |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1288597.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726120530/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1288597.ece |archive-date=July 26, 2008 |access-date=March 18, 2011 |work=The Times |location=London}} Winfrey rejected the claims, saying: "If you are surrounded by beautiful things and wonderful teachers who inspire you, that beauty brings out the beauty in you." Winfrey, who has no surviving biological children, described maternal feelings towards the girls at Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.{{Cite web |last=Samuels |first=Allison |date=January 8, 2007 |title=Oprah goes to school |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/01/07/oprah-goes-to-school.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913121426/http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/01/07/oprah-goes-to-school.html |archive-date=September 13, 2011 |access-date=May 27, 2020 |website=Newsweek}}{{Cite news |last=Koinange |first=Jeff |date=January 8, 2007 |title=CNN.com |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/01/05/btsc.koinange/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826090616/http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/01/05/btsc.koinange/index.html |archive-date=August 26, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2010 |publisher=CNN}} Winfrey teaches a class at the school via satellite.

{{main|Media works of Oprah Winfrey}}

By Oprah Winfrey

• Winfrey, Oprah (1996). The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey: A Portrait in Her Own Words
• Winfrey, Oprah (1998). Journey to Beloved (Photography by Ken Regan)
• Winfrey, Oprah (1998). Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life (co-authored with Bob Greene)
• Winfrey, Oprah (2000). Oprah Winfrey: The Soul and Spirit of a Superstar
• Winfrey, Oprah (2014). What I Know for Sure
• Winfrey, Oprah (2016). Mr. or Ms. Just Right (co-authored with B. Grace)
• Winfrey, Oprah (2017). Food, Health and Happiness
• Winfrey, Oprah (2017). The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations
• Winfrey, Oprah (2017). The Wisdom Journal: The Companion to The Wisdom of Sundays
• Winfrey, Oprah (2019). The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose
• Winfrey, Oprah (2021). What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing (co-authored with B. Perry)

{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Oprah Winfrey}}

• American Library Association Honorary Membership (1997)
• Honorary degrees{{Cite book |last=Garson |first=Helen S. |title=Oprah Winfrey: A Biography |date=2011-05-26 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-35833-3 |edition=2nd |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VIHDEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 61]}} from: Princeton University, Howard University, Duke University, Harvard University,{{Cite web |last=Loudenback |first=Tanza |title=30 celebrities who received doctorate degrees without ever stepping foot in class |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-have-honorary-degrees-2015-8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012734/https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-have-honorary-degrees-2015-8 |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} University of Massachusetts Lowell,{{Cite web |title=UMass Lowell to Award Oprah Winfrey Honorary Degree {{!}} UMass Lowell |url=https://www.uml.edu/news/press-releases/2018/winfreyhonorarydegreerelease.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012734/https://www.uml.edu/news/press-releases/2018/winfreyhonorarydegreerelease.aspx |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.uml.edu}} University of the Free State,{{Cite web |title=Céline Dion, Ben Affleck, and More Celebrities Who Have Received Honorary Doctorate Degrees |url=https://people.com/celebrity/celebrities-with-honorary-doctorate-degrees/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012734/https://people.com/celebrity/celebrities-with-honorary-doctorate-degrees/ |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}} Tennessee State University,{{Cite web |last=Ivan Aronin |date=2023-05-09 |title=Oprah Winfrey receives honorary doctorate degree at Tennessee State University graduation - Main Street Media of Tennessee |url=https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/mainstreetmediatn/oprah-winfrey-receives-honorary-doctorate-degree-at-tennessee-state-university-graduation/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509011231/https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/mainstreetmediatn/oprah-winfrey-receives-honorary-doctorate-degree-at-tennessee-state-university-graduation/ |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=Main Street Media of Tennessee -}} Spelman College,{{Cite web |title=Oprah Winfrey 2012 Commencement Address {{!}} Spelman College |url=https://www.spelman.edu/commencement/commencement-speaker/past-commencement-speakers/oprah-winfrey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012736/https://www.spelman.edu/commencement/commencement-speaker/past-commencement-speakers/oprah-winfrey |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.spelman.edu}} Colorado College,{{Cite web |date=2019-05-19 |title='Use Your Life in Service,' Oprah Winfrey Tells Graduates - Colorado College |url=https://www.coloradocollege.edu/newsevents/newsroom/use-your-life-in-service-oprah-winfrey-tells-graduates.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012734/https://www.coloradocollege.edu/newsevents/newsroom/use-your-life-in-service-oprah-winfrey-tells-graduates.html |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.coloradocollege.edu |language=en-US}} Smith College,{{Cite web |title=Media Leader Oprah Winfrey Will Deliver Smith Commencement Address |url=https://www.smith.edu/news-events/news/media-leader-oprah-winfrey-will-deliver-smith-commencement-address |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012734/https://www.smith.edu/news-events/news/media-leader-oprah-winfrey-will-deliver-smith-commencement-address |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.smith.edu |language=en}} Skidmore College{{Cite web |title=Winfrey, Tisch, Moore at Commencement 2017 |url=https://www.skidmore.edu/news/2017/0223_commencement_speakers.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227012734/https://www.skidmore.edu/news/2017/0223_commencement_speakers.php |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.skidmore.edu}}
• Mural including her image by Shawn Michael Warren in Chicago (painted in 2020){{Cite web |last=France |first=Lisa Respers |date=December 13, 2023 |title=Oprah Winfrey honored with portrait at Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/13/entertainment/oprah-winfrey-smithsonian-portrait/index.html |website=CNN}}
• Portrait of her by Shawn Michael Warren for the National Portrait Gallery (unveiled in 2023)

• African Americans in Mississippi

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite journal |last1=Korownyk |first1=Christina |title=Televised medical talk shows—what they recommend and the evidence to support their recommendations: a prospective observational study |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=349 |pages=g7346 |doi=10.1136/bmj.g7346 |pmid=25520234 |date=December 17, 2014|pmc=4269523}}

}}

• {{Cite book |last=Mair |first=George |url=https://archive.org/details/oprahwinfreyreal00mair |title=Oprah Winfrey: The Real Story |publisher=Carol Publishing Group |year=1994 |isbn=1559722509}} ({{Cite book |last=Mair |title=updated |year=1995}}) (updated 2001)
• {{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Moore |title=Dude, Where's My Country? |title-link=Dude, Where's My Country? |publisher=Warner Books |year=2003 |isbn=0446532231}}
• {{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Irene |title=Oprah Winfrey |publisher=Viking |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-670-06162-4 |ref=none}}

{{sister project links|d=Q55800|c=category:Oprah Winfrey|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|wikt=no|s=no}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{IMDb name|1856}}
• [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124285128 NPR "Oprah: The Billionaire Everywoman". Audio file, video and biography]. Retrieved September 17, 2010
• {{OL author}}
• [http://www.makers.com/oprah-winfrey Oprah Winfrey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216040131/http://www.makers.com/oprah-winfrey |date=February 16, 2013 }} Video produced by Makers: Women Who Make America
• {{C-SPAN|21013}}
• [https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/watchingoprah Watching Oprah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417045044/https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/watchingoprah |date=April 17, 2021 }} – Smithsonian exhibition on the Oprah Show and Winfrey

{{Oprah Winfrey|state=expanded}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Oprah Winfrey

|list =

{{AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting Actress}}

{{Cecil B. DeMille Award}}

{{Disney Legends Awards 2010s}}

{{Daytime Emmy Award Lifetime Achievement}}

{{Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Talk Show Host}}

{{International Emmy Founders Award}}

{{Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award}}

{{Jefferson Award Winners}}

{{Kennedy Center Honorees 2010s}}

{{Montecito Award}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year}}

{{NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture}}

{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{Spingarn Medal}}

{{TCA Career Achievement Award}}

{{1994 Television Hall of Fame}}

}}

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