A report that Michelle Obama said that Oprah’s “huge girth” makes her a terrible role model for kids is just one of the weighty issues that form the center an excerpt from bestselling author Ed Klein’s new book, “The Amateur,” published Monday in the New York Post.
Oprah Winfrey was a huge supporter of Obama from early on, throwing fundraisers for him and ultimately putting her professional reputation on the line to giver her endorsement.
“[S]he felt proud that she had been instrumental in electing the first black president of the United States,” Ed Klein writes in his book, “and she believed that she had earned a place in the president-elect’s brain trust.”
Subsequently, Michelle and Oprah quickly became pals.
So why all the drama?
After the inauguration, things started to get dicey: According to Klein’s accounts, there was an immediate shift in tone between Michelle and Oprah.
When Oprah wanted to do an interview with the first lady, she had to go through middle men and red tape, getting the questions pre-approved. When she was ultimately allowed to interview Michelle, Michelle directed most of her answers and asides at Gayle King, Oprah’s long time best friend, instead of at Oprah.
This was all happening while Michelle was being told by advisers Valerie Jarrett and Desiree Rogers to distance herself from Oprah, and that Oprah was getting too close to the president and starting to act like the first lady herself.
The whole account sounds oddly similar to the movie “Mean Girls.” Michelle Obama was also allegedly jealous of Oprah’s relationships with Barack. In fact, Michelle was so paranoid of all the women working near her husband that she reportedly asked her “inner circle” to keep an eye on any girl that Barack got “touchy” with.
When Oprah went back to try to do another interview with Michelle about her anti-obesity campaign, she was flat out rejected. According to sources, Oprah told Gayle King that she really wanted to get on the phone and let Michelle have it, adding, “Michelle hates fat people and doesn’t want me waddling around the White House!”
If that seems harsh, apparently the feeling is mutual. Michelle Obama has been known to go on rants about Oprah.
“Oprah only wants to cash in, using the White House as a backdrop for her show to perk up her ratings,” Michelle was quoted as telling her staff. “Oprah, with her yo-yo dieting and huge girth, is a terrible role model. Kids will look at Oprah, who’s rich and famous and huge, and figure it’s OK to be fat.”
This election cycle, Oprah has yet to throw the president lavish fundraisers like she did in 2007. Still, Obama cites Oprah for helping to make him president, thanking her for throwing her weight behind him when no one else did.