This was Oprah yesterday, apologizing to James Frey, the fabulist author of the faulty memoir A Million Little Pieces. She eviscerated him few years ago in an interview, and then came to the conclusion (which I don't quite share, actually) that she was wrong to do so:
I was sitting in prayer, meditation, trying to get myself still, because as you know, when you have all these different voices coming at you, I was just trying to get to a place where I could really hear what was the right thing to do. I have a little meditation room in my house, and I had literally just said, “Tell me what the right thing to do is," because I’d listened to everyone else’s opinion and I was wavering in my own opinion. And I got up and went in the shower and getting ready to go to work and the voice inside myself said, “Do not make the same mistake that you made with James Frey.” And I started crying in the shower, thinking, “Well, what is that? What is that?" And I literally said, “What is that? What is that mistake?” And the voice inside myself said, “Do not rule from your ego.” And I made a decision in that moment. I got out of the shower, I called my assistant Libby and I said, “Find James Frey. I have to speak to him today.”
Studs Terkel used to tell a story about Oprah Winfrey, the ambitious young TV host who came to Chicago from Baltimore, in the mid-1980s. Told Terkel was an important guy who she ought to know—and a good guy to boot—she called one afternoon. But the timing was bad.
"I remember it so clearly!" Terkel would say. He was hammering away on his typewriter, in the middle of composing an angry letter to a boss. Who was this "Oprah" person, and what did she want? He rushed her off the phone, told her it wasn't a good time.
She never forgave him. And neither he, nor any of his books, ever appeared on the show. And he understood exactly why. Rejected by the lovable Studs Terkel. "Imagine how she must have felt," he would say, regretting his intemperence that day on the telephone two decades ago.
Then he'd shake off the regret for hurting her feelings, and contemplate the millions of dollars that impatient phone conversation probably cost him.
And he would burst into a cackle and shout, "I could have been a contender!"
It's okay to have a big ego, Oprah.
But you gotta have a sense of humor to match it.
Whale fat? Really?
Yes, her ego is a blue whale.
OMG! Where is Crescenzo on THIS one?!
Shouldn’t he be constitutionally required to “weigh-in” [Heh!] on any and all Oprah discussions???
Today, I am Steve Crescenzo. Today, WE ARE ALL STEVE CRESCENZO!
Thank you.
Sometimes it’s hard to be 8 or 9 years ahead of everybody else, when it comes to recognizing piggishness. But columns like this make it all worthwhile.
I eagerly await the Writing Boots column admitting that Obama, while a good man, simply had no business being elected President of the United States.
Please don’t reply today. I’ll wait another six or seven years, and then we’ll talk.
Steve C.
Thank you.
Sometimes it’s hard to be 8 or 9 years ahead of everybody else, when it comes to recognizing piggishness. But columns like this make it all worthwhile.
I eagerly await the Writing Boots column admitting that Obama, while a good man, simply had no business being elected President of the United States.
Please don’t reply today. I’ll wait another six or seven years, and then we’ll talk.
Steve C.
Thank you.
Sometimes it’s hard to be 8 or 9 years ahead of everybody else, when it comes to recognizing piggishness. But columns like this make it all worthwhile.
I eagerly await the Writing Boots column admitting that Obama, while a good man, simply had no business being elected President of the United States.
Please don’t reply today. I’ll wait another six or seven years, and then we’ll talk.
Steve C.
Steve, just to get it straight: I despised Oprah back when you still wanted to be Howard Stern, I hated Dr. Phil before you’d ever heard of him, I liked Hillary when you hated her, and I still love Obama today. As does Hillary, who you now, for some reason, love.
David:
I never wanted to be Howard Stern. I hated Dr. Phil before you did. And Hillary hates Obama. She just can’t say it out loud.
Steve C.
David:
I never wanted to be Howard Stern. I hated Dr. Phil before you did. And Hillary hates Obama. She just can’t say it out loud.
Steve C.
David:
I never wanted to be Howard Stern. I hated Dr. Phil before you did. And Hillary hates Obama. She just can’t say it out loud.
Steve C.
And, my world remains in balance, not to mention hysterical laughter!!
Good times!
People who encourage dogs to fight often lose their hands.
Pah! You two have been fighting like this for YEARS, and you both seem quite hearty and unscathed to me.
Besides, I didn’t create this dynamic, nor will anything I say or do be likely to impact it in any concrete way.
Finally, if you don’t want people watching and enjoying the sparring, then WHY are you doing it here on the public blog – Riddle me THAT, paly boy!?
Nannynanny boo boo! Ha!
Steve—LET’S GET ‘ER!
Kristen reminds me of Oprah. And Hillary, back when she was a jerk before she became excellent.
Steve C.
Kristen reminds me of Oprah. And Hillary, back when she was a jerk before she became excellent.
Steve C.
Kristen reminds me of Oprah. And Hillary, back when she was a jerk before she became excellent.
Steve C.
By the way, it’s no great mystery why I flipped on Hillary.
There was no reason to like here when she was Bill’s long-suffering wife, whose only accomplishment in public life was to a) completely fuck up health care reform; and b) stay married to the President despite the fact that he was diddling half of Washington, DC.
And there was no reason to like her when she bought a New York Senate seat with Bill’s clout and money.
I started to like her on the campaign trail, when she got out from under his shadow. And I’ve grown to really like her as Secretary of State.
Unlike some people, I don’t automatically like someone just because she’s a Democrat, or a woman. They have to prove themselves, just as any Republican or man does.
Hillary, finally, has earned our respect.
As has Obama, in certain areas. But I wasn’t going to give it to him because he was a liberal, or because he was black. You gotta earn it, bro.
Steve C.
By the way, it’s no great mystery why I flipped on Hillary.
There was no reason to like here when she was Bill’s long-suffering wife, whose only accomplishment in public life was to a) completely fuck up health care reform; and b) stay married to the President despite the fact that he was diddling half of Washington, DC.
And there was no reason to like her when she bought a New York Senate seat with Bill’s clout and money.
I started to like her on the campaign trail, when she got out from under his shadow. And I’ve grown to really like her as Secretary of State.
Unlike some people, I don’t automatically like someone just because she’s a Democrat, or a woman. They have to prove themselves, just as any Republican or man does.
Hillary, finally, has earned our respect.
As has Obama, in certain areas. But I wasn’t going to give it to him because he was a liberal, or because he was black. You gotta earn it, bro.
Steve C.
By the way, it’s no great mystery why I flipped on Hillary.
There was no reason to like here when she was Bill’s long-suffering wife, whose only accomplishment in public life was to a) completely fuck up health care reform; and b) stay married to the President despite the fact that he was diddling half of Washington, DC.
And there was no reason to like her when she bought a New York Senate seat with Bill’s clout and money.
I started to like her on the campaign trail, when she got out from under his shadow. And I’ve grown to really like her as Secretary of State.
Unlike some people, I don’t automatically like someone just because she’s a Democrat, or a woman. They have to prove themselves, just as any Republican or man does.
Hillary, finally, has earned our respect.
As has Obama, in certain areas. But I wasn’t going to give it to him because he was a liberal, or because he was black. You gotta earn it, bro.
Steve C.
So Hillary was a c——— until proven worthy in your wise eyes. (That was the operative word, if I remember right.) And Obama is a what, until you deem him worthy?
And most importantly, when are you going to get over this schoolyard bullshit where everyone is either in or out, worthy or unworthy, great or terrible?
You know you’re the only remaining adult I know who constantly evaluates people in these terms.
We’re not in our twenties anymore, Steve. Haven’t we learned something along the way about the complexity of life, and human beings?
I don’t remember using the C word. I really don’t. Maybe I did, but I don’t remember it.
Obama is an inexperienced Ivy League liberal with dangerously naive ideas about how to run the country . . . until he proves otherwise. Not until I deem otherwise . . . until he proves otherwise.
Which he has started to do by reversing his own stupid ass campaign promises to roll back all the Bush policies on fighting the war on terror, even though it alienates his “base.”
And I’m the ONLY adult who evaluates politicians and people in public life? Really? The only person you know?
Maybe you’d like to share your non-evaluations of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck.
I can share my evaluations of them: They are all dickheads.
Do you evaluate those people at all, David? Do you evaluate Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, or the governor of Wisconsin?
How about evaluating Oprah, or Dr. Phil. Oh . . . wait. You just did. So you and I both are the only TWO people you know who does that.
What a cool club to belong to.
Steve C.
I don’t remember using the C word. I really don’t. Maybe I did, but I don’t remember it.
Obama is an inexperienced Ivy League liberal with dangerously naive ideas about how to run the country . . . until he proves otherwise. Not until I deem otherwise . . . until he proves otherwise.
Which he has started to do by reversing his own stupid ass campaign promises to roll back all the Bush policies on fighting the war on terror, even though it alienates his “base.”
And I’m the ONLY adult who evaluates politicians and people in public life? Really? The only person you know?
Maybe you’d like to share your non-evaluations of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck.
I can share my evaluations of them: They are all dickheads.
Do you evaluate those people at all, David? Do you evaluate Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, or the governor of Wisconsin?
How about evaluating Oprah, or Dr. Phil. Oh . . . wait. You just did. So you and I both are the only TWO people you know who does that.
What a cool club to belong to.
Steve C.
I don’t remember using the C word. I really don’t. Maybe I did, but I don’t remember it.
Obama is an inexperienced Ivy League liberal with dangerously naive ideas about how to run the country . . . until he proves otherwise. Not until I deem otherwise . . . until he proves otherwise.
Which he has started to do by reversing his own stupid ass campaign promises to roll back all the Bush policies on fighting the war on terror, even though it alienates his “base.”
And I’m the ONLY adult who evaluates politicians and people in public life? Really? The only person you know?
Maybe you’d like to share your non-evaluations of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck.
I can share my evaluations of them: They are all dickheads.
Do you evaluate those people at all, David? Do you evaluate Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, or the governor of Wisconsin?
How about evaluating Oprah, or Dr. Phil. Oh . . . wait. You just did. So you and I both are the only TWO people you know who does that.
What a cool club to belong to.
Steve C.
Hard to debate somebody who doesn’t remember having said something, when he said it 200 times.
Hard to debate somebody who purposely fogs up the argument. I accuse you of black and white thinking, you accuse me of having opinions about people.
You imply I like President Obama because he is black. But you don’t quite say it. Again, hard to debate a feller who pulls stuff like that.
Hard, and dumb.
So . . . when I don’t like someone, it’s because I’m a black-and-white thinker. When you don’t like someone, it’s having an opinion.
That’s interesting. If I was so black and white, I wouldn’t have flipped on Hillary. I wouldn’t give Obama the credit I give him now for certain things.
I wouldn’t have gone from thinking McCain was the Next Great Man to thinking he was a fucking idiot.
The fact that he was black was a huge bonus, and it stirred your loins.
And I doubt I’ve used the C word 20 times in my entire life, let alone 200 times about one person.
Steve C.
So . . . when I don’t like someone, it’s because I’m a black-and-white thinker. When you don’t like someone, it’s having an opinion.
That’s interesting. If I was so black and white, I wouldn’t have flipped on Hillary. I wouldn’t give Obama the credit I give him now for certain things.
I wouldn’t have gone from thinking McCain was the Next Great Man to thinking he was a fucking idiot.
The fact that he was black was a huge bonus, and it stirred your loins.
And I doubt I’ve used the C word 20 times in my entire life, let alone 200 times about one person.
Steve C.
So . . . when I don’t like someone, it’s because I’m a black-and-white thinker. When you don’t like someone, it’s having an opinion.
That’s interesting. If I was so black and white, I wouldn’t have flipped on Hillary. I wouldn’t give Obama the credit I give him now for certain things.
I wouldn’t have gone from thinking McCain was the Next Great Man to thinking he was a fucking idiot.
The fact that he was black was a huge bonus, and it stirred your loins.
And I doubt I’ve used the C word 20 times in my entire life, let alone 200 times about one person.
Steve C.
I’m wondering if Oprah was shown your ego blog, Steve. It just seems too coincidental that she mentioned her ego spoke to her…
Steve: I remind you of Oprah?!?!? That’s low man, I mean, really REALLY low!
Seriously, that’s just plain MEAN!!!
Be honest, David. If she weren’t fat, you wouldn’t have made the “whale” reference. I have no problem with your taking her on, but the fat thing seems beneath you. – Amy
Truly not, Amy. I would have been even more likely–and it would have been funnier, actually–to have said, James Cameron’s ego exploded, smothering the Academy in whale fat.
Note to self: In two years, when everybody has forgotten Oprah whale fat reference, use it on Cameron.
Amy:
Why do you say Oprah is fat. She’s not fat. Haven’t you seen the pictures of her on the cover of her magazine???
She’s thinner than Tyra Banks!!! And better looking, too. She USED to be fat. But that was before she went on the Photoshop Diet.
Steve C.
Amy:
Why do you say Oprah is fat. She’s not fat. Haven’t you seen the pictures of her on the cover of her magazine???
She’s thinner than Tyra Banks!!! And better looking, too. She USED to be fat. But that was before she went on the Photoshop Diet.
Steve C.
Amy:
Why do you say Oprah is fat. She’s not fat. Haven’t you seen the pictures of her on the cover of her magazine???
She’s thinner than Tyra Banks!!! And better looking, too. She USED to be fat. But that was before she went on the Photoshop Diet.
Steve C.
Where is my Photoshop Diet, Steve? I’ve been doing the dreaded Atkins + exercise. Blech.
Izabelle Gilder
I value the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.