Gossip Friday: Oprah To Move Near President-Elect Obama?

According to Page Six, Oprah is house hunting in DC to be closer to President-Elect Obama.


It reads:

Insiders say Winfrey has started a preliminary search for a home in Washington, DC. A nine-bedroom Georgetown mansion she's said to have asked about is listed at $50 million, but another source said, "She has never personally been to see it." We're sure Winfrey will try to swing by during Inauguration week.

I just want to know who are these 'insiders' and how do I become one? ;)

Have a great weekend!

Oprah Tips The Scale At 200 Pounds

Remember back in September when I noted how Oprah did it 'big' at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards?

Well today quotes have leaked from an the upcoming interview to publish in the January issue of O magazine where Oprah admits she has "fallen off the wagon" after gaining 40 pounds since 2006 when she once weighed 160 pounds.

Oprah goes on to say:

"I'm embarrassed … I can't believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I'm still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, 'How did I let this happen again?' "

I understand the weight battle thing all too well. And it's true, just when you think you have it all under control, you look up and see a fat person staring back at you in the mirror.

While weight hasnt been the best thing for Oprah, it certainly isn't bad for show ratings. I think whenever Oprah talks weight...the country tunes in.

And Oprah definitely intends to capitalize off this recent weight gain as she plans to kick off the new year with five straight shows that will focus on weight, health, spirituality, money and sex. She'll also be talking about her weight on her XM satellite radio station's 'The Gayle King Show'.



For more on Oprah's weight gain woes including when she 'felt like a cow', click [here].

Oprah's 'Best Life Week' kicks of January 5th. Check your local listings for times.

CBS Starts Search For Next Oprah

According the to NY Post, CBS is already thinking about who can replace Oprah Winfrey if the queen of media decides not to continue her show after her contract ends in 2011.

"Whether Oprah stayed or doesn't stay, it's our obligation to -- if we are conducting our business properly -- to identify people who identify with the viewer." states John Nogawski, head of CBS subsidiary that syndicates her show.

Many speculate Oprah might take the show to her own channel, OWN, scheduled to kick off next year.

I think we all know who the next 'Oprah Winfrey' will be once she decides to retire. Click [here] to find out.

For now, continue to catch The Oprah Winfrey Show on weekdays. Check your local listing for show times in your area.

Oprah Opens Up About Obama

Be sure to catch The Oprah Winfrey Show on Wednesday as Oprah is planning to tell America how she really feels about Obama.

As if we don't already know.
But if I know Oprah, this show will probably be one of her biggest shows yet.

Yes We Can!

Oprah Doing It 'Big' At The Emmys

Our favorite black on TV, Oprah Winfrey, opened the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards yesterday and I must say...it was a 'big' opening.

While Oprah hasn't been her thin self since disclosing to America her thyroid problem was the cause of her weight gain, I can't help but notice how much weight she's been packing on as of late.

Does anybody even care anymore about Oprah's weight anymore? Or have we grown use to having an on again - off again plump Oprah?

Anyhoo...seeing Oprah open the award show was probably the most enjoyable part of the night. Everything else to follow made it very hard for me to keep my eyes open.

Florida Hicks To Boycott Oprah

I write to you all today from the sunshine state where it seems The Florida Federation of Republican Hicks Women are all in an uproar because Oprah refused to have McCain's running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

"Women in Florida helped build Oprah into the icon she is today," Linda Ivell, President of the FFRW said in a statement. "We are deeply disappointed in Ms. Winfrey's decision to sit out the greatest political moment in the history of women since suffrage."

Oprah's written response in a statement:

"At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a plat for any of the candidates,"

Ever since supporting Obama, republicans have been itchin for a reason to boycott the show. Is this the best they could come up with? I'm sure Oprah is hardly concerned about this boycott at this stage in her career.

Read more on this by clicking [here].

The new season of The Oprah Winfrey Show kicks off tomorrow with over 175 athletes from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Oprah's Doing The Happy Dance

"I'm euphoric, I've been doing the happy dance all day," Oprah said in a statement released on Wednesday. "I'm so proud of Barack and Michelle and what this means for all of us ... the new possibilities for our country. And if he wants me to, I'm ready to go door to door."

I love that Oprah doesn't give a fcuk about losing those old white women (Hillary supporters) viewers and keeps on supporting Obama.

Dance on Oprah...dance on.

Gossip Friday: Oprah Gossip Mania and Who Does Tyra Think She Is?

According to the June 1st cover of The New York Times Magazine...

Oprah and Martha!

Scheduled to hit the newstands tomorrow, this cover is already causing tongues to wag as is it seems Tyra is being compared to media queens, Oprah and Martha Stewart.

Is she next in line to hold the title of Queen of Media?

Speaking of the queen of media, Oprah got her fare share of gossip this week:

Oprah's beloved Stedman tells of Oprah and Gayle's gay antics.

Oprah's dad writing a tell all book on Oprah and she didn't even know.

Oprah ain't leaving Stedman a penny of her billion dollar empire when she kicks the bucket.

Tyra needs to be careful what she asks for. The tabloids will have a field day with you once you've made it to the top.

Have a great weekend!

Is Oprah's Empire On The Decline?

In an interesting article in the New York Times, writer, Edward Wyatt takes a look at how Oprah's growing success doesn't seem to be growing any longer. In fact, it seems to be on the decline:


In it's third straight year of decline, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has seen a drop of 7% of its average audience.

Oprah's debut to reality TV competition, "Oprah's Big Give" started 'big' but lost 1/3 of it's viewers during the rest of its 8 week run.


O, The Oprah Magazine has also seen a drop in its circulation totalling more than 10 percent in the past three years.

So what's the cause?

The article speculates two main factors may be to blame.


Oprah's latest promotions of new-age spirituality such as her latest book club pick, A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle seems to be turning folks off.


Also, Oprah has also received criticism over her public endorsement of presidential candidate Barack Obama. The middle-aged white women who are either Republicans or Hillary Clinton supporters clearly wasn't feeling this move.

I dont know what to make of all this just yet. But isn't it funny how this 'decline' is now being made a big deal soon after her supporting a black candidate for president?

You do the math.

You can read more on this article by clicking here.

Gossip Friday: 50 Cent Slams Rocsi and Will Oprah Get The Scoop?

Happy Gossip Friday! Let the games begin!

First off, rumor has it Beyonce and Jay-Z have been booked for The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Pic Cred: THEYBF
With this said, will Oprah 'get all up in their business like a Wendy interview' and ask the pair to confirm their nuptials?

I dont know how true this is. But everybody black feels this is not true because Lady O don't do rap artists(unless they are in a major motion picture). Even if that rap artist is supposedly married to the 'hottest chick in the game'.

My guess is there has to be more to this couple's story if they are to sit on Lady O's sofa. I can't see her giving them that platform just to publicize their 'I do'.

Read more on this here.

It seems 50 Cent has a new enemy.

After calling 50 Cent's last cd 'garbage' on camera, Rocsi was the target of 50 Cent's tongue lashing this week during a radio interview for Washington D.C.'s 93.9 WKYS where he accuses the co-host of BET's 106 & Park of favortism and being a little loose. Ouch!

"Rocsi, she said something crazy on a tape. At first, my reaction to it is I should probably tell people who she is for real ... She's like a pop, I know like four people she slept with. It's favoritism, when you sit on the [BET] couch because ... like I don't have time to hang out with you and sleep with you to make you like me on the show. That's not how I do things."

I've been trying to watch 106 & Park this week to see if or how Rocsi is handling the scandal but havent seen anything just yet. It would be smart for her to just leave this alone but it's going to be very interesting to see how things are handled the next time 50 Cent makes his rounds to the show to promote his next project.

My guess is Rocsi will call in sick that day.

If you haven't already heard about this you can catch the rest of the details here.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Gossip Friday: Oprah's Blond Moment and Star Fires Back At Babs

Happy Newlyweds
So turns out all the gossip last week over Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon's elopement was actually all truth.

This week photos of the happy couple circulated the internet made possible by People Magazine who got the inside scoop on the wedding. Even Oprah had to add to the talk on a live show this week where she comments on overlooking some of the clues while interviewing Mariah just the week before.



Oprah was clearly having a blond moment. She could have broken that scoop a week earlier if she just had paid more attention to the clues.

Anyhoo...

Last week we polled BONTV on how long you think the Nariah nuptials will last and we have a tie.

36% of voters feel the Nariah wedding will last either 2 weeks or 6-12 months while 27% of voters feel it will only last 1 month.

Well, for those of you who voted 2 weeks, we will know in just 1 more week if you were right. I personally dont think this will last any longer than a year.

And who's ready for a cat fight?

Star Jones has thrown the first punch scratch at Barbara Walters who earlier this week confessed to Oprah that Star made her lie.



Star tells UsWeekly:

"It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true character,"

Ouch!

Don't hold back Star. Tell us how you really feel.

For more on Star's response click here.

That's all folks! Have a great weekend!

Babs Tells Of 'Black' Secrets

Barbara Walters definitely got some cool points after admitting to Oprah on yesterday's show that she once had an affair with married black politician, Sen. Edward Brooke.

"He was a wonderful man and a wonderful senator. … I have always felt that I perhaps ruined his future," Walters told Winfrey. "I regret that he didn't get re-elected. So if you ask me if I regret it, yes."

Do you regret the sex too Babs? Enquiring minds want to know.

Anyhoo...

Barbara also spoke about having to lie for Star Jones when she was on ABC's The View . Apparently Star originally had planned to tell everybody how she was losing the weight on an episode of 20/20 but then at the last minute decided not to, asking Barbara not to reveal that she had undergone gastric bypass surgery to anybody.

“We had to lie on the set everyday,” Walters told Winfrey. “She was our colleague and she really did not want us to out her … We cared about her, and we thought we owed her.” Instead, Jones told audience members at the time she had lost weight because of “portion control and pilates.”

I'm still trying to figure out who didnt know Star underwent the knife to shed all those pounds.

Barbara Walters was on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote her new book, Auditions.

For more on the O interview and what was revealed click here and here.

Oprah Gives America Yet Another Doc

Queen of Talk, Oprah Winfrey is spinning off yet another daytime doctor:

Dr. Oz has been a regular guest (appearing as often as once a week) on The Oprah Winfrey Show informing viewers of things we either never thought to ask our own doctors or quite frankly was never taught in Biology class.

Now Dr. Oz will have his own health related daytime talk show to debut in the Fall of 2009.

You all may recall back in 2002 Oprah introduced America to her favorite head doctor, Dr. Phil McGraw. Since then, Dr. Phil went on to create his own talk show by which Oprah is still part owner. Dr. Phil recently celebrated his 1000th show and of course who better to serve as guest:


And if two daytime talk shows featuring doctors wasn't enough, Dr. Phil has also decided to spin off his latest creation, "The Doctors" also to debut next fall.

I don't know about you. But all these doctors getting their own day-time talk shows sure is making me sick.

Oprah To Get Her 'OWN' Channel? WTF!

Queen of Media, Oprah Winfrey is all set to take yet another step in her plans of TV world domination. She will be launching her own U.S. channel next year.

Oprah with David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications
The appropriately self-titled network, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), once launched will be viewed in more than 70 million homes.

Oprah says about the launch:

"Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold," said Oprah Winfrey, who will serve as chairman of OWN. "For me, the launch of The Oprah Winfrey Network is the evolution of the work I've been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show."

So what kind of programming can one expect on OWN?

Lifestyle of course! Duh!

You will also be able to get some programming on current affairs. In other words..they have no clue just yet. By they, I am reffering to Oprah and Discovery Communications who in the deal has agreed to relaunch their Discovery Health Channel as OWN.

So what do you all think? Honestly, when I heard about this I was hardly surprised. Can anyone really say they did not see this coming?

Go on Oprah with your bad self!

Winfrey Chooses Keys To Portray Horne

Lady O has casted R&B singer Alicia Keys to play Lena Horne in her next TV movie special.

Uncanny Resemblance
"We're going to start filming next year, and we've got Alicia." says the TV talk show host turned movie producer.

So is this perfect casting? Pagesix.com seems to think so:

The casting makes perfect sense since Lena and Alicia share more than a passing resemblance. Both were born in New York, both conquered the music industry quickly and both share a passion for philanthropy. Alicia is a spokesperson for several AIDS organizations, while Lena dedicated her life to the civil rights movement.

Everybody knows I love all things Winfrey, so I am going to have to forgive her for going with Keys instead of another music icon that was originally being considered for the part right before a major Super Bowl scandal causing Horne to ask the icon to remove herself from being considered. [Click here if you were living under a rock in 2004.]

Oprah: "A Woman You Know You Can Trust"

Lady O certainly has been a busy woman as of late.
In between giving away tens of thousands of dollars of gifts to her loyal viewers in Macon, GA, producing television and big screen movies like Mitch Albom's For One More Day and, the highly anticipated, The Great Debaters, Oprah found time to support presidential candidate, Barack Obama this weekend on his campaign tour hitting Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Oprah in Iowa
And of course when Oprah talks...thousands listen as she pulled a record number of 30,000 people out to the Williams-Brice Stadium in South Carolina. The largest turnout the state has ever seen for a presidential rally. Introduced as 'a woman you know you can trust' by Michelle Obama, Oprah took to the stage and addressed the crowd not only explaining why she supports Barack but responding to Obama's biggest criticism to date: lack of experience.

"There are those who say it is not his time, that he should wait his turn. Think about where you'd be in your life if you'd waited when people told you to. I wouldn't be where I am if I'd waited on the people who told me it couldn't be."

Well said.

In related news, Will Smith is said to have also offered his time to support and join Obama on his campaign trail citing, "I think he's what the future of America is going to be. Barack represents what I feel is the future of the optimum survival of America." Wow.

So has all this black star power made you an Obama supporter? Vote on today's poll, "Has Oprah's support of Obama influenced your vote?"

Christmas In Georgia?

So it seems Mrs. Claus (aka Oprah Winfrey) and her elves made their way down to Macon, GA this weekend for a surprise early Christmas.

The ever so popular 'Favorite Things' episode taping of the The Oprah Winfrey Show took place this past weekend in Macon, GA. Why Macon? Well, turns out Macon have some of Oprah's biggest fans as it seems the southern city has the highest percentage of viewers in the country. It is reported that 45 percent of homes there tune in to the show in the afternoon. To show her appreciation for watching, Oprah decided to tape the show there this year which means those lucky fans will walk away with cameras, ipods and all kinds of gadgets Oprah deemed worthy to make the list this year.

As always the taping of this episode is kept top secret. Die hards fans were lead to believe the show topic would be about 'hometowns in America'. Of the 4,500 people who responded to be in the audience only 300 made the final cut and reportedly got wind of what was going on when other ticket holders eyed racks of elves costumes being delivered to a side door of the studio. Oprah always have her producers dress in elves costumes while delivering the gifts during the show.

"Everybody just went wild in there." said a ticket holder.

I can only imagine.

Tune in to The Oprah Winfrew Show tomorrow to catch all the madness.

BONTV News Update: Oprah Apologizes In Africa

"I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Oprah Winfrey was back in Africa where she shed tears, apologized and asked forgiveness of the parents of the African girls who currently attend her all girls school in South Africa.

You may recall a few weeks ago when allegations were made that a matron at the school had fondled and physically abused students. Since then, the school's principal and that matron were put on administrative leave. Oprah expresses that she 'trusted' the principal but was 'disappointed'. Parents in turn, consoled Oprah, letting her know it wasn't her 'fault'.

As a result of this incident, Oprah has given all the students at the school her personal phone number and email address so that they can contact her if needed.

She's Here!

Lady O graced the N.Y.C. today with her presence as she kicked off her 22nd season of The Oprah Winfrey Show!

"All that screaming and yelling, I feel the same about you because there's no place like New York City."

Now when I went to Tyra Banks Show last month, I remember the audience of about 150 people going batty once she entered the studio. My ears are still ringing to this day. Having experienced that, I can only imagine what all that screaming and yelling from 10 times that amount must have sound like.


Today's guests included Lisa Marie Presley with her daughter and none other than David Letterman.

Letterman's interview was cool. And of course he brought with him his popular 10 Ten List which was The Reasons He Loves Oprah. Number 1 was because she is giving everybody in the audience a car. While that was funny, the real joke was on all those folks in the audience who for those few short seconds actually believed him.

Stay tuned tomorrow as she will do a special show on, what else, but 9/11. Tomorrow shalll be a somber day.

Tyra's Not Following Oprah's Footsteps

I can't say that I'll publicly be endorsing a candidate, but it's something I'm thinking about.

In today's New York Post, Tyra Banks explains she doesn't anticipate 'publically' endorsing anybody for the upcoming elections unlike her idol, Oprah Winfrey.

I love Oprah using her power, because she has the influence to change what she feels is necessary.

She also goes on to say:

If you look at a lot of people in the field we're in, they're just constantly endorsing everything - from a new purse to a new hotel. This is just another thing.

But Tyra really is no fool. She knows it's too early in her talk show career to start taking sides. Plus, I am sure she is after Hillary Clinton too. Clever girl that Tyra!


In related news, Oprah will be throwing presidential candidate Barack Obama a fund-raising bash this weekend. Read more on this here.

While no word yet on when it will air, Obama will be interviewed by Tyra on Sept. 27th for The Tyra Banks Show.