Sure, Oprah Winfrey has a ridiculous net worth of $2.5 billion, however, she has experienced struggles along the way like everyone else.Even during her fame, Oprah was called out by Michael Jackson fans, who attempted to cancel her. As far as interviews go, they weren't always the smoothest either, heck she almost canceled her Lindsay Lohan interview after the celeb was completely off the rails...That wasn't her worst interview... we'll look back on what Oprah deemed as her worst interview and why she wanted to end things abruptly. Note to others, don't oversell your book with Oprah...
Oprah Had A Few Questionable Interviews During Her Rise To Fame
Over the years, Oprah has had more than a few memorable interviews, some for good reason, the others, well, let's just say the media had some criticisms, especially most recently alongside The Royals.
Perhaps the most memorable of the bunch took place alongside Tom Cruise back in 2005. According to The Ringer, this is regarded as the first ever viral moment to be uploaded on the internet.
Who can forget it? Tom, who was usually calm and cool, jumping up and down on the couch, expressing his love for Katie Holmes. Oprah, who is also usually composed herself was extra gitty on the day.
"Cruise’s May 2005 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show seemed destined to be yet another fluffy meeting of monstrously famous minds. Instead, traditional media’s powerhouse duo was about to provide the new video-uploading service with a clip that would demonstrate the format’s growth potential far better than a rinky-dink recording of a random dude musing about zoos," The Ringer states looking back at the iconic interview.
It was quite the moment and one that made the headlines. However, that wasn't always the cast, as some one-on-ones failed to deliver, so much so that Oprah would completely zone out during...
Oprah Does Not Like Guests That Get Too Historical And Into Themselves
Let's give some credit to Harry Connick Jr. for not only getting Oprah on his show a few years back, but asking her a question we all want to know... who was Oprah's worst guest.
“You talk about all of the guests you’ve had over years. Has anyone been particularly annoying, where you’re just like, ‘Gosh, I can’t wait for this person to leave?"
Credit to Oprah who did not side-step the question or come up with some diplomatic answer. Instead, she revealed that a certain type of guest does irk her...
"Well, I mean, the worst kind of guest — you’ve had this, too — is when you ask them question and they start talking about 1975, and then you think, ‘Oh, we are in 2017. How long is it going to take us to get to 2017?’ That’s the worst,” Winfrey says.
“The other worst guests, for me, are those who think whatever they are talking about is so spectacular, and you know it’s not."
Oprah would further reveal that when she's zoning out and not interested, code words are used, like "wow" and "really."
In terms of her worst guest, Oprah did mention a certain experience, one that actually made her call out the person in question.
Oprah Couldn't Wait To Finish Her Interview With A Lawyer Who Constantly Mentioned His Book
Not only is taking the historical route a bad idea, but mentioning your book constantly isn't any better... Oprah recalls a certain lawyer getting on the show, and throughout the interview, he was insistent on mentioning the title of his book.
“I had a guest on who was a lawyer and he mentioned the book 29 times. That’s after I started counting. Every sentence started, ‘In my book, in my book, and if you buy my book,’ and so finally, around third segment, I said, ‘We all know the name of the book. Audience, tell him the name of the book … so you don’t have to say the name of the book anymore,'” Winfrey recalls.
Oprah reveals that following the call-out, the interview finally changed course into a proper conversation, "After that we started having conversations. Our intention was to tell the people, ‘You don’t have to sell your book. I will mention the book. I will take care of the book.'”
We can only imagine how many times a similar scenario took place... though Oprah wisely decided to call out the lesser known lawyer...
