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Oprah Winfrey recalls being body-shamed by Joan Rivers


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Oprah Winfrey recalled being publicly body-shamed by Joan Rivers, who made her weight topic No. 1 during Winfrey's first appearance on "The Tonight Show" in 1985.

 

On Monday's episode of the "Jamie Kern Lima Show" podcast, the media mogul recalled how, despite being invited to talk about her then-booming TV show, "A.M. Chicago," Rivers focused on her appearance instead.

 

"Joan Rivers turns to me and she says, 'Tell me, why are you so fat?'" Winfrey recalled to host Lima.

 

She admitted she was so stunned by having her weight called out "on national television" that she didn't know "what to do with that."

"I just [said], like, 'Oh, I just love potato chips, Joan,'" Winfrey shared, which prompted the late comedian to fire back, "Shame on you."

 

Rivers, who died in 2014, then told Winfrey: "I'll let you come back if you lose 15 lbs. You need to lose 15 lbs."

 

Winfrey admitted she had sided with Rivers at the time of the interview, adding, "I accept[ed] that I should be shamed, because how dare me, be sitting up here on 'The Tonight Show.'"

 

After vowing to the late "Fashion Police" host that she would shed the weight, she revealed to Lima that she never did. "Of course, I didn't lose the 15 lbs. I went and ate my way to another 10 lbs," Winfrey said.

 

Winfrey's encounter with Rivers on the "Tonight Show" ultimately led her to enroll in a "health retreat" to slim down, she said. "At the time, they called them 'fat farms,'" Winfrey shared.

 

Winfrey then recalled how around the same time, she "cried" and "prayed" because she thought being overweight had made her miss out on a role in the critically acclaimed "The Color Purple."

 

huffpost

 

 

Posted (edited)

Such a ridiculous rude thing to say to someone. Especially in public. Just motivated by humiliating someone. Joan Rivers was a nasty person!

Edited by KatyPrismSpirit
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She's literally a billionaire yet keeps telling these 'woe is me' tales.

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Boohoo. The way she treated Toni Braxton, MJ and others she ain't a saint by a long shot. Zero sympathy for Mrs. Sophia. 

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Sounds like Joan :gaycat:

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I just watched it and it's honestly not even that bad. 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, midnightdawn said:

She's literally a billionaire yet keeps telling these 'woe is me' tales.

and she has more money than the average person to keep the weight off but went the short cut with Ozempic

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Oprah was never even that big. Joan Rivers would've combusted in anger had she lived through to Lizzo becoming famous.

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Both of them needed a good slap.

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I think we should collectively focus less on how people look and judge them on their characters instead (so please keep flaming Oprah, she's horrible)

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I love Joan Rivers

RIP

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She needs to give that stolen Hawaiian land back to the natives and stop begging for sympathy. I don't feel bad for any billionaires at all.

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And is that why she is now stealing ozempic from people that actually need it? 

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Joan is an insult comic, so this is kind of her thing. I don't support body-shaming people randomly, but I also believe (almost) anything goes in comedy...

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The early 2000s were weird. Like, Oprah was never that big to me, and then on 30 Rock there were relentless jokes about Liz Lemon/Tina Fey's weight and I'm like "ummmmm"

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Then what she really feels about this madtv skit

 

 

 

 

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, WalkAway said:

I just watched it and it's honestly not even that bad. 

 

 

The way Oprah is in on the joke here lol It's clear she has revised moments like this for current audiences and discourse. This is why she's still round. In the 80s that brand of humor was not out of touch and Oprah herself made a buck talking about her weight all the way into the 2000s

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Tiffany Pollard Reaction GIF

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Quick reminder this nasty piece of ****/plastic is squirming roasting on a spit in hell! :heart:
 

 

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39 minutes ago, Magic_boXX said:

Then what she really feels about this madtv skit

 

 

 

 

So iconic lmaooo

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Also Oprah to the Olsen twins when talking about their weight issues: "What's your size?" 

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Isn't Joan Rivers a zionist? Not sure why people keep cutting her slack for all the horrible things she said. It wasn't even funny most of the time

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Oh, she's one to talk. Cry me a river. 

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4 hours ago, KatyPrismSpirit said:

Such a ridiculous rude thing to say to someone. Especially in public. Just motivated by humiliating someone. Joan Rivers was a nasty person!

She was Wendy Williams first who does the exact same thing 

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I love Joan Rivers and I think she was a brilliant comedian but it's fair to say she was a deeply imperfect person who I think unfortunately internalized a lot of deep shame about her appearance and took out her harsh critiques of her own appearance on other people.

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