Did Oprah fall out with the Obamas due to broken promises?
From
The NY Post
"Everyone remembers that Oprah went all out for Obama during the 2008
presidential election. What was not reported was that, in return, Oprah
was promised unique access to the White House if Obama won. She’d get
regular briefings on initiatives and a heads-up on programs to give her
material for her fledgling cable network, OWN.
“Oprah intended to make her unique White House access a part of her new
network,” a source close to Oprah told me. “There were big plans, and a
team was put together to come up with proposals that would have been
mutually beneficial.
“But none of that ever happened. Oprah sent notes and a rep to talk to
Valerie Jarrett, but nothing came of it. It slowly dawned on Oprah that
the Obamas had absolutely no intention of keeping their word and
bringing her into their confidence.”
Oprah did not campaign for Obama in the 2012 race, and she has been
absent from his battles on gun control, immigration reform and the
environment. She claims she is too busy to get involved in politics,
even though she hosted a fund-raiser for Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who
won a US Senate seat last week.
Oprah’s friends publicly dismiss the idea that she had a falling out
with Obama. They note that she phoned Michelle Obama right after the
2012 election to congratulate her. They say Michelle invited her to have
dinner with the first family. But the dinner never took place, and
Oprah continues to be frozen out.
“Oprah was hoping there would be a genuine change in the atmospherics,”
one of her friends told me. “But there hasn’t been. Clearly, she is
being rebuffed at the level of Michelle and Valerie. And, just as
obviously, President Obama hasn’t interfered on Oprah’s behalf.”
During Obama’s first term, I argued in my book “The Amateur” that
Michelle was jealous of Oprah, furious that he was seeking her advice.
“For her part, Oprah doesn’t like being with Michelle, because the first
lady is constantly one-upping the president and anybody else around
her,” said an Oprah adviser.
“Oprah has struck back by banning the Obamas from her O, The Oprah
Magazine . . . It probably hurts Oprah more than Obama, who, if he had
his head screwed on straight, would have flown to California and begged
Oprah to help him save ObamaCare.
“But Obama hasn’t budged, and neither has Oprah. She’s hurt and angry,
and I seriously doubt that Oprah will ever make up with the Obamas. She
knows how to hold a grudge.”
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