OPRAH’S NEXT MOVES
The star sets the record straight.
Oprah Winfrey has had a very interesting 2018, and the year is barely three months old. In January, when the billionaire media mogul declared “a new day is dawning” during her speech accepting the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. Demille Award, millions of people were hoping her words were a sign she would launch a US presidential run, with #Oprah2020 sweeping the internet. “I was really surprised. I was humbled,” says Winfrey, 64. “I know everything means something. I thought, ‘Is this a sign?’” So far, she has said she doesn’t intend to run for office despite the wave of support (and a couple of taunts from President Trump). The calls for her to run have had an effect, though. “What it has given me is a renewed sense of a desire to serve,” she says. “And not just my country but the world.” Last week she spoke out in support of the Parkland, Florida, student activists fighting gun violence, donating $US500,000 to their march on Washington (on March 24). She also hopes to send a positive message with her new film A Wrinkle in Time, in cinemas on March 29, co-starring Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling and directed by Winfrey’s friend Ava Duvernay. In the film, based on Madeleine L’engle’s 1962 sciencefiction novel, Winfrey plays Mrs Which, a celestial being who helps a girl (Storm Reid) find the confidence to battle evil forces. Her character’s line “Be a warrior” feels apt for the times.
Here, she reflects on her #Metoo battles, her body-image struggles, her greatest joys and her future. “I am a peacemaker; I’m not a divider,” she says. “That is who I am.”
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WITH THAT GOLDEN GLOBES SPEECH—AND WHO WANTS HER TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT
I wanted to talk about gender and race and class, discrimination and endurance. I did a lot of thinking. I was praying for a sign, a way in. I must have been more nervous than I thought, because I’ve never
had dry mouth before, but in the middle of the speech I couldn’t move my gums. When I walked off with Reese, I thought, “I got that done.” It wasn’t until I was back in the press room that they said, “Do you realise you’re trending?”
I was just trying to give a good speech. About this presidential thing, my best friend, Gayle [King], started asking me questions about running. I was just like, “Oh, Gayle, forget it.” Then she started sending me [notes about] every person she runs into who says, “Oprah should run.” Over the holidays she and her family were in Maui at [my] ranch, and she goes, “I know it won’t be good for you, but I think it would be good for the country. I seriously think that you should think about it ... Aren’t you feeling something?” I have a few people who are truth sayers
to me: Gayle, Stedman [Graham, her longtime partner], [trainer] Bob Greene.
I had people—wealthy, billionaires—calling me up and saying, “I can get you a billion dollars. I can run your campaign.” That many people saying something made me think, “Am I at least supposed to look at the question?” I went into prayer about it. You have to have that thing that says, “I know this is what I’m supposed to do.” I just don’t have that.
But I’ve heard from the red states and the blue states, the liberals and libertarians and conservatives, how that speech affected them. It says that people want leadership that is inclusive and that does bring people together, that does speak to our greater will to do good. There’s a longing and a yearning for that. That’s what they responded to.
WHAT SHE LEARNT FROM HANGING OUT WITH REESE WITHERSPOON AND MINDY KALING
Working on A Wrinkle in Time was one of the best experiences of my career. I love Ava’s vision that this is a film about young women, people who are willing to step up and be warriors. The first day on-set there was this loud blues music blasting from the trailer. I’m a person who does everything in silence, who likes being with my thoughts. Reese was the DJ, and every morning everybody would say, “What do you want to hear?” I’m not going to be the one who says, “I really want to hear nothing,” so I just said, “Whatever you want to do.” And I just opened myself to the experience. We listened to everything from Sam Cooke to the Beatles to Carly Simon. I learned to be part of the fun. DJ Witherspoon and Mindy talked nonstop. They can talk about everything. These girls know everything going on in the culture.
HOW SHE FOUND THE COURAGE TO SAY #METOO
The moment I first confessed on The Oprah Winfrey Show to being molested, I confessed because there had been a time years before when a girl on the People Are Talking show I did in Baltimore had told the story of being molested, and I did not have the courage at that time to say out loud, “Me too.” I spoke to that girl afterwards and told her personally one-on-one, “That happened to me, too.” And she said, “Why didn’t you say something?” And I said, “Because I was scared to say that.” My agent had said to me not to bring it up. And then one day on the show someone said it, so I felt compelled to speak up. It happened to me at 9, and then 10, and then 11, and then 12, 13, 14. You don’t have the language to begin to explain what’s happening to you. That’s why you feel you’re not going to be believed. And if the abuser, the molester, is any good, they will make you feel that you are complicit, that you were part of it. That’s what keeps you from telling.
What was striking to me was two days after the Harvey Weinstein story broke, Reese said, “I haven’t slept in a couple of days, and this has been so disturbing to me, and I talked to other actresses, and they said they can’t sleep.” I pulled her aside, and I said, “I think you should speak to somebody about this, because this sounds like PTSD to me.” And she said, “I think you’re right. This is triggering something.” And then she later spoke about it herself. Women all over the country have been in situations with domineering, brutish men and had to remain silent about it to keep food on the table. I had a boss who was just a brute. This was at WJZ-TV in Baltimore. I knew that saying anything at the time would have taken me out of television forever. That nothing would have been done about it. I wasn’t going to be there forever, so I said nothing. Every time he would pass my desk, I would turn around and try to disappear.
WHETHER SHE WISHES SHE HAD RAISED CHILDREN
“We need warriors, people who will stand up when they see that a thing is wrong”
Oh, no no no no no. The Oprah
Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls [ her school in South Africa] has been one of the greatest rewards of my life. I got them at 12, and that’s the age I needed. Everybody’s potty-trained. It was just the right combination of mentor, mother, leader, guide. Just to see all of them blossom into these flourishing human beings ... They delight me. Make me laugh a lot. They have surprised me in ways that have brought wonder and great joy.
HOW SHE’S MAINTAINING HER 19KG WEIGHT LOSS
For the first time in my life, I have reached a weight that I can maintain, and for me that’s a big win. Weight Watchers [she’s a spokeswoman and part owner of the company] is about living healthier. I’m holding at the 42lb [19kg]. I am usually every Christmas up 8 to 12lb [3–5kg]. To gain nothing and watch people eat cronuts in front of me, I consider that a victory for someone who has been an emotional eater and struggled with up-and-down weight loss my whole life. I would really like to firm up, feel as fit as possible. I’m going to start a weight-training program. Maybe I’ll run a half marathon. I’m going to plan a big hiking trip to New Zealand for my 65th birthday [next January]. I’m not trying to be skinny, not trying for a size. I’m just trying to be as healthy as my body wants to be. My goal is to be 65 and you all say, “What happened to Oprah? She got ripped!” That’s my goal. Yes, honey.
WHAT SHE DEMANDS IN HER DRESSING ROOM
It used to be an avocado, a tomato and sparkling water. Now it’s down to just sparkling water. I’m very much aware that I walk into a room and people have a certain expectation [of ] a diva. Listen, I have dealt with celebrities over the years, and I don’t want to be that girl. I learned a long time ago that from me every whisper becomes a shout.
HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT GETTING OLDER
I tell all women, you don’t hit it until 44. I felt the essence of being a fully grown woman at 44. That was the same year I did Beloved, and it was a failure at the box office, and I was saddened by that. But I learned from it. The deeper the pain, the higher the bounce. Then around 50, it’s the beginning of another phase in your life. You will know that you are no longer supposed to be wasting time on things that are frivolous.
WHAT MAKES HER HAPPIEST NOW
Nothing makes me happier than to see other people in their purest moments of joy. Sometimes, honest to goodness, I’m just sitting around thinking, “What could I do to make somebody feel really good today?” To be able to do that for somebody, that’s one of the great joys of my life. This made me so happy recently: People never leave money for the housekeepers in a hotel. I usually just leave the money on the pillow, but this time I put it all over the room—under the desk, on the counter with the M&M’S, in the shower. As I was leaving, I was like, “Somebody is going to be happy today, yes!”
“I have dealt with celebrities ... I don’t want to be that girl”