I'm not a super hero and can't play one on TV either!
You can't afford to miss an episode of Oprah, since you never know what can happen. For instance who could've dreamed that Tom Cruise would send his career into an unpredictable spin by taking a leap off of Oprah's couch? Tom's image was never quite the same and Oprah showed just how major her effect can be. Now if you thought that was a one time incident that could never be repeated, then think twice because Oprah has knocked off another one. Once again it involved a major movie hunk doing his own stunts.
Oprah is doing her last year on TV, or at least the last year of her day time talk show (before she heads out in search of new worlds to conquer). Being a larger than life personality, she's determined to go out with a bang. To that end she treated her audience to a trip downunder. She even booked John Travolta to be their special celebrity pilot (so Oprah's got no problem with Scientology & Travolta has no problem with her). Once in Australia Oprah's special guest would be treated to five star accommodations and the best Downunder has to offer in celebrities.
NO Aussie celeb is bigger than Hugh Wolverine Jackman. So he was obliged to put in an Oprah Command Performance (She still makes stars ask "How high ?" when she says "Jump!"). Hugh had a grand entrance planned too. He was gonna drop into the stage on a cable, like Tarzan swinging in on a vine. This should've been good fun and made a big impression on Oprah's audience.
However something went wrong with the stunt. When Jackman launched himself down the cable, he went a little too far and overshot the runway. That sent him crashing head first into the back ground. To make matters worse Jackman's valuable face was damaged as the star injured his eye on landing. Hugh was game though, and after a little quick first aid he carried on with the interview. There's no people like show people; and Oprah is not to be disappointed. Though she might want to be careful in future. More stunts gone wrong and she could find herself the subject of a law suit.
Oprah Winfrey is one of America's most prominent asexual celebrities. She's right up there with Amy Sedaris. Since coming into the public eye Oprah has had a long term on again off again relationship with motivational speaker Stedman Graham. Graham is tall, rugged, successful, and kind of good looking - so naturally people began wondering why the relationship didn't go anywhere. Now in entertainment that kind of speculation usually leads to one area - gay rumours.
going nowhere and waiting to come
When Gayle King came out of the wood work it only added fuel to the speculation fires. Oprah seemed to be spending a lot more time with her new BFF that with her significant other - Stedman. Oprah & Gayle went on road trips and various other mid life adventures together. They even crashed some weddings. When 2 unattached adults of the same gender start spending all their free time together, naturally tongues start to wags as eye brows start to raise.
the rumours of my sex life have been greatly exagerated
Unlike Tom Cruise - who went ballistic on Oprah's couch over his professed love for Katie Holmes - Oprah has never ever seen fit to directly address the rumours about her personal life. That does Oprah much credit for good sense. Nobody believes denials in this cynical age. Yet if you don't address it then it's not an issue (if you can't quit while you're ahead then at least shut up before you say too much; like TV's David Letterman just managed to do). Besides look what the spin control did to Cruise. That doesn't mean that Ms. King might not open up and talk about things from time to time.
"So what's the sore?" - "Let me hum a few bars to see if you know it."
Gayle was recently asked by TMZ what the score was with her and Oprah. Are they just 2 single ladies sharing a mid life crisis, or is there more going on than we realize. King took the opportunity to set the record straight by assuring TMZ that Winfrey is not one bit gay. Let's have a look at that brief video clip:
They fish together ... they camp together ... they shack up together .... but Oprahs' BFF Gayle King still insists the famous lesbian rumors are purely "ridiculous."
the Ozone
Well there you have it - sort of. Ms Gayle is obviously so straight that she wouldn't know a gay person if she were being bitten on the ass interviewed by one. That goes double for her boss. The comments were very non committal too, so I'm sure that the Big O will be pleased. No one talks for Lady O, not unless they have first received specific instructions about what they can and can not say. God help them if they screw that up too.
So that explains everything. I'm glad too. This lesbian tittle tattle was really getting way out of hand. Maybe now Oprah and Gayle can get back to living their lives and enjoying such non lesbian activities s fly fishing together. PS I hear that Oprah bought the lake before she and Gayle arrived, perhaps to make sure that meddlesome busybodies didn't get the wrong idea about two single 50 something gals fly fishing together. You know how people can talk!
Now here's a little post Halloween treat. As gossip followers know celebrities love dressing up and going out. Halloween provides a golden opportunity for this. So every year there are a plethora of pics from various celebrity costume parties. This year I've posted the pick of the litter - aspiring actress Julia Voth (Bitchslap) as Wonder Woman - now that's a treat!
Julia Voth is available for casual stalking by way of facebook.
In what might be a Lindsay Lohan Samantha Ronson scene without the drugs, cops, rehab, ambulances, and SWAT teams; Oprah Winfrey and long time 'companion' Gayle King have had a falling out. By falling out I mean that Gayle actually uttered the words "I hate you" out loud and to Oprah's face.
the fall out from the falling out
No words on that caused the falling out. However the usual unnamed sources claim that their relationship is now hanging by the shred of a thread. Further more there's some really nasty side stories developing. Gayle King is getting super sucky with the Obama family lately. Not for the usually reasons: influence, status, etc. She knows that Oprah covets the Obama connection and this is Gayle's way of sticking it to her long time friend.
steady with Steadman - Steadman as she goes
Meanwhile Oprah has a trick up her own sleeve. She's apparently back with Steadman Graham. The 6'4" motivational speaker has been spotted coming out of the woodwork and back into Oprah's life. For those unfamiliar with the Steadman back story he's a big good looking ex football type and self made multi millionaire; he's also a constant reminder to the world that no man is good looking or successful enough to deserve Oprah. That kinda worked the way Gabriel Aubry was supposed to rmeind the world that no man is good looking or successful enough for Halle Berry (and did she give him a hard time about that too!). The one difference being that Halle managed to get down off her high horse long enough to get knocked up, once.
Oprah's self made family & friends with benefits
Now it should be stated that Oprah has never ever officially 'come out of the closet'. Oprah has maintained that as far as the world needs to know Steadman is some guy she likes taking out dancing and on vacation, while Gayle is some chick who spends a lot of time in Oprah's home, when they're not sharing hotel rooms for professional purposes (King has some kind of unofficial position with HARPO).
Official counter spin aside the 2 grown women who formerly couldn't get enough of each other are currently carrying on like a pair of high schoolers having a 'spat'. The obvious conclusion - it's okay if Gayle hates Oprah. She'll be back in the picture soon 'cause she knows shit. Besides, if Oprah really want to cheese King off she wouldn't be back with Steadman, she'd be palling up to good friend Ellen DeGeneres. There seems to be a certain low key middle aged chemistry between those two, in an officially not gay way that is.
Love the toilet paper in the bottom right of the picture - what more of an impression of existence do you need? Possibly a few stains would've been not only an indication of existence but a sign of life, too. Gossip is also a way of making those impressions. It's part of the reason celebrities like being talked about: existential angst. Well it's either that or sheer immature self centeredness. Now go out there and exchange that self centeredness for contentedness!
When you go after Oprah Winfrey you'd better go loaded for bear. That's what Kitty Kelley usually does whenever she writes an unauthorized biography about any of her high profiles targets. now the Queen of dirt wants to add Oprah Winfrey to her trophy collection.
taking the heat over cold shoulder
Kelley has just released her new Oprah book and it appears to follow form with her Sinatra, the Royals, the Bushes, etc. bios. There's already a lot of talk about drugs, incest, prostitution, homosexuality, Gayle King, and the Kitty Kelley media freeze out! Who knew that Oprah lived such an interesting life?
the Oprah Effect 2.0
Ms. Kelley seems particularly concerned with the freeze out. Usually whenever Kitty writes a tell all, the interviewers line up. Not now. Apparently Oprah is using her massive influence, the kind she used to make Dr Phil, Dr Oz, and Rachel Ray household names, to keep Kitty off of the talk show circuit. Of course that hasn't stopped people from talking about it. Quite the contrary! Here's a little news clip featuring Ms Kelley discussing her unauthorized book and it's unofficial reaction.
fame in the sleaze age
Oprah should've realized the day that Tom Cruise hopped off her couch and into celebrity crazytown that no one can control their own image in the information age. What's more fame can turn on you to the point where everyone can cash in on your secrets, except you. Sandra Bullock could've explained that sad fact to her. So will you be lining up for your copy of the book that promises to tell you about the real Oprah? I'm sure that Tom Cruise already has his advance copy - complete with special deleted chapters. Fame still has it's privileges - though it's a much bigger pain in the ass than it used to be.
"Despite your effort... despite your might... you cannot escape... from Oprah's sight..."
Just because Oprah is freezing Kelley out of the talk show circuit doesn't mean that Oprah is unaware of the book's existence. Oprah directly addressed the book recently at the Matrix Awards. While Oprah skipped the usual red carpet, she did launch into the book, describing it as a 'so called' biography.
Then she went right into a spiel about her mysterious BFF Gayle King. Oprah said that King had her hands full with all of Oprah's new biodads coming out of the work work. They probably want a piece of the action, or at least one of those new cars Oprah is so fond of giving away. Oprah then went on to describe Gayle as a wonderful friend who cares more about Lady O than she does her self, and who has never ever been jealous of Oprah no not one day in her life (except for an incident involving Oprah and Tina Turner!). Complete dog like devotion is all that any celeb asks from their companions and that's a tall order when you're so full of yourself positivity. That level of positivity usually brings out the worst in people.
Oprah's final word on the book - "This to shall pass."
Oprah might be on to something with the "this to shall pass" idea - even though it's not original. As previously posted right here on Wondertrash Mad Mel Gibson has split from his Russian sugartits Oksana Grigorieva shortly after the birth of their child Lucia. It's even worse than that, Oksana is having her Mel tattoo removed. The tattoo in question is a small hammer & sickle on her ankle that Mel advised her to get. Who knew Mel's mind worked that way? No word on whether or not she's having the 10 pounds of facial filler removed.
One thing that isn't passing is the trouble Suvivor producer Bruce Beresford-Redman is in. He got in trouble after the murdered body of his wife Monica was found stuffed into a sewer outside their Mexican hotel. Naturally police assumed he did it. Even more so now that new rumors of mutual infidelity have come out. Head over to Celebrity Bitchslap for a little more on that.
Bogus zen: Celebrities have a head for heights, unfortunately many of them haven't learned the fine art of taking a fall. Tom Cruise didn't even managed to make the 2 foot hop from Oprah's couch unscathed (he only damaged his ego, but when you're a Follywood celebrities that's one of your most important assets!). So here now is a Wondertrash thought of the day: Remember that it's better to be on the ground wising that you were flying, than flying and wishing you were on the ground.
If Oprah Winfrey ever meets the Pope then they'll have something to talk about like child abuse and law suits. If you'll recall Oprah barreled in South Africa like a bull in a china shop in order to open up her Dream Academy. Suicide attempts and allegations of sexual abuse followed. Some staff members got the sack and Oprah spoke some harsh words about the head mistress. Even though Oprah probably hired the woman personally - it was her project and she was very hands on, she seemed to suddenly decide that the chick wasn't kosher.
Well the head mistress decided that this was defamation. You know how influential Oprah can be and with the Winfrey seal of approval withdrawn the woman would probably be out of her profession. More importantly she probably decided to that Oprah has enough money to make wrong right (No one has that much money!). So she sued.
Well no the law suit has been dropped. It was settled out of court, and without the head mistress's attorneys, and in a manner that Oprah's reps describe as "to both parties mutual satisfaction. If you're thinking pay off then you won't be alone. The less cynical among us might just wonder what sort of a new car Oprah bought the woman.
BTW I can report that the rumors that Lauren Velez, Lt. Maria Laguerta on Showtime's Dexter, has been approached to play Oprah Winfrey in a biopic are fabricated.
You can't afford to miss an episode of Oprah, since you never know what can happen. For instance who could've dreamed that Tom Cruise would send his career into an unpredictable spin by taking a leap off of Oprah's couch? Tom's image was never quite the same and Oprah showed just how major her effect can be. Now if you thought that was a one time incident that could never be repeated, then think twice because Oprah has knocked off another one. Once again it involved a major movie hunk doing his own stunts.
