Top television personality Oprah Winfrey has revealed the reason she ended her successful television show, The Oprah Winfrey Show.
That, she said, was a result of “relentless pressure” to balance authenticity with increasing demand for sensational content.
In a conversation with her best friend Gayle King, she explained that she could have made an extra billion dollars if she had stayed on air but eventually had to abandon the program.
Speaking at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston on December 12, the award-winning show host explained various reasons, including that of an ambitious producer” who suggested that audience members be sent into space.
If I had signed another contract, I would have made at least another billion dollars doing that…
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“Because it was getting harder and harder to find myself sitting in a seat of truth. After [Australia], one of the producers came to me and said, ‘What if we can get, like, 10 audience members on a spaceship?” she stated.
Her explanation, however, attracted some backlash from former observers who questioned her sincerity.
In September last year, sources close to the former talk show host said she was adamant about a documentary film going public, following a clash with the filmmaker and director, Kevin MacDonald.
She was reported to have bought the broadcast rights to the production to stop the documentary from going live.
Other accounts indicated that Oprah had asked the filmmaker to edit parts of the project before it aired, but the director was unwilling to do so.
Although her team denied the claim, they told some outlets that “it wasn’t the right time to do a documentary.”
The Oprah Winfrey documentary was first mentioned in January 2021 and was planned to be presented in two parts.
Following reports about the biopic being put on hold, some observers wondered if the television personality was afraid of letting sensitive information about her life get into the public domain.
Oprah Winfrey also endorsed Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and attracted criticism from some supporters of Donald Trump.
She made a surprise appearance at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in August and later announced that she would host the “Unite for America” virtual rally in support of Kamla Harris.
