I'm pretty sure that I've been through worse poverty and abuse than she has. Just that I didn't get lucky and have someone give me a TV show. It's not talent, it's really luck. She sits around all day and goes "uh huh...so tell me more."

The charities are write off's though. She gets most of her money back and the money that she doesn't get back is basically just the same as advertisement since it's great PR.

As racist as she is, she's still not too bad of a woman. Most people wouldn't ever dream of even doing half the stuff she does to help people -- by that I mean blacks.

 

really......

So you had it worse than growing up dirt poor and being raped and beaten in a crap town in racist Mississippi?

Someone just gave her the show?

She worked herself up the journalism ladder to get her show and it was her charisma that got her her following. How easy is it for an African American female to become a billionaire? Is it because there are so many?


Please Give me a break.

"Oprah Winfrey was born in a small town in Mississippi in 1954. Her father was in the service and her mother moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in search of a new start. Oprah was left to be raised by her paternal Grandmother on a small farm. Oprah's Grandmother taught her to read before most children are ready for pre-school. Oprah's Grandmother was a strong Christian and due to her influence Oprah was very active in the church. By the time she was 3 she had traveled through the south reciting sermons and biblical verses.


At the age of six, Oprah moved into her mother's home, which was a far cry from the supportive, safe environment she was used to. Oprah's childhood took a drastic turn to a life of repeated sexual abuse from which reading was her only escape. At age 14 she was impregnated by one of her abusers. The baby was born premature and died shortly after birth. Oprah's mother could not handle having a developing woman in the house so she declared her "incorrigible" and sent her to live with her father. Oprah's new home in Tennessee was a far cry from the wild, "party house" atmosphere of her mother's home. Oprah's father demanded good study habits and high moral standards. He was a strict disciplinarian and allowed Oprah to adopt a new standard of living.


In High School Oprah began to refine her natural public speaking talent by participating in the production of a regular radio show. She was also encouraged to compete in pageants where she awed judges and mesmerized crowds with her public speaking talent. Oprah's father was supportive of her success. Under his guidance she landed a full scholarship to Tennessee State University.


Oprah knew that she was in a unique position. In 1971 not many impoverished, abused black girls were given the opportunity to attend any university. Oprah's father had instilled in her a powerful work ethic, which complimented the high moral beliefs of her grandmother.


Oprah began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville while still in high school. At the age of 19, she became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. She then relocated to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the Six O'Clock News and later went on to become co-host of its local talk show, People Are Talking.

In 1984, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, AM Chicago, which became the number one local talk show

 

thanks for posting that Raj.

I also read (or heard?) somewhere that Oprah's father is an exceedingly humble man who-- despite Oprah's begging him to let her buy him a new home or improve his barbershop-- he refuses, insisting to do it all himself (or words to that effect).

I cannot remember exactly, because the story wasn't about Oprah or her father, but rather about a famous identity thief who stole the identities of numerous celebrities, but who after speaking to Oprah's father one day, found him to be so humble and honest a man, decided that he would never target anybody close to Oprah Winfrey.

p.s.-- you haters in this thread have reached new lows. my god some of the ignorant statements that have been thrown out.

 

In my personal opinion, a lot of people dislike Oprah because she exploits other people for her own personal gain. Furthermore, she repeatedly points out how rough she had it as a child, and that she worked her way up from nothing. This is a wonderful point, but rarely does she acknowlege that much of her startup capital came from government grants (that 99% of the people in this forum would never, ever receive). Coupled with her racist remarks, which usually go unnoticed by the media, she can polarize an audience.

On the flip side, Oprah does give a lot of money to those in need. If she didn't have her vast resources and riches, these people would still be in the same crap situation they started in (though, receiving a free car really does nothing to help the overall situation. . . how about giving these people an education so they can work hard and buy their own car in 5 years???). Anyway, sometimes and end justifies the means. Bill Gates is fabulously wealthy, but donates hundreds of millions of dollars to good causes every year. . . so which would you rather have, Bill Gates and his contributions, or no Bill Gates at all? I'll take Oprah in all her crappy glory, just as long as I don't have to watch the stupid show.

 

Your friend's nephew's uncle would be your friend, right?

(OK, or your friend's brother or brother-in-law; it's still only one or two degrees of separation, not three as written. You weaken your point when you exaggerate.)

 

Hehe...before reading this thread, I didn't know jack about Oprah, yet I still hated her for some reason. For her richness? Could be, but there are so many celebs who are super rich. But after having learnt a little about her background, I'm hating her less. But frankly, I really don't give a crap about Oprah, Dr. Phil, Larry King, or any one on TV for that matter.

 

That was a stupid joke I threw in there. Thanks for catching it. (Anyway, that wasn't my main point. Hope you're following along here.)

 

Well, definately not as bad as her at the point that I was never raped or impregnated. Damn, that's really harsh, losing your kid from being premature . Has to take a toll on you.

Her life wasn't as bad as many other people. If you think that's bad, you need to go see more.

Her show is just like Jerry Springer, Maury, Montel Williams -- to take peoples suffering and make a profit while exploiting them. Worst by far is Maury (this is why I haven't watched TV in years only once a few months or less to watch speed channel or spike TV during saturday mornings for maybe 15 minutes). Typical Maury show:

Chick with a kid: "I know it's his son. I know it's that SOB's!"
Maury: "That is not the father"
Chick: "NOooooOoooOOOoo. MAMA NoOoOoOOooooo"
Maury: "You can come back next week and test out 50 other guys in your list you freakin slutbag and humiliate you some more to everyone that's watching"

 

I just saw that Episode today, it was one of them one off shows at 8:30pm
(21/09/04)

 

Yes, much much worse.