11Oprah-Dr. Phil Connection
Oprah Winfrey hired the company Courtroom Sciences, Inc. to help her analyze and read the jury during her Texas cattlemen lawsuit. She was so impressed by the head of the company, Phil McGraw, that she eventually had him appear weekly on her show before he launched his own show, Dr. Phil.
12Oprah's Phobia
Oprah Winfrey has such a severe phobia of chewing gum that it was banned from her television studio and this included audience members. This fear of hers stemmed from her grandmother who left gum all around the house to save for a later chew. Her rule though didn’t stop Reese Witherspoon from chewing it in front of her.
13Oprah Winfrey Network Loss
In 2011, when Oprah Winfrey launched OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), the average prime-time audience was 264,000. The channel’s losses were estimated to be $330 million as of May 2012.
14Oprah's Free Car Special
During one of her Oprah’s Favorite Things specials, Oprah Winfrey promised every audience member a car. However, as the cars were the yet-unreleased 2012 VW Beetles, the members had to wait until the model reached the market to get their cars. The Show paid the sales tax and registration for each car, but not the gift tax, which could be up to $7,000 for some audience members. While the show did offer a cash prize for those who didn’t want to or couldn’t pay the gift tax, some audience members complained to the press, which devastated the producers.
15Beloved's Box Office Failure
The 1998 movie Beloved which starred Oprah Winfrey bombed at the box office and made less money than Bride of Chucky. She claimed the movie’s failure was the worst moment in her career and made her go into major depression. She went on record to state that the depression led her to a macaroni and cheese-eating tailspin and she ate 30 pounds of mac and cheese.
16Oprah Winfrey Show Premiere
The producers for the Premiere episode of the ‘Oprah Winfrey Show’ bribed Don Johnson of ‘Miami Vice’ with Dom Pérignon and a pair of rhinestone sunglasses as they wanted him to be the show’s first guest.
17Oprah’s Staff Vacation
To celebrate two decades of the Oprah Winfrey Show, and to thank her employees for their hard work, Oprah took her staff and their families (1,065 people in total) on vacation to Hawaii in the summer of 2006.
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18Oprah's Lifetime Achievement
Oprah Winfrey permanently withdrew herself and her show from consideration for a Daytime Emmy Award after being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. She was quoted as saying, “After you’ve achieved it for a lifetime, what else is there?”
19Oprah's Gift to Stevie
Oprah Winfrey bought Stevie Wonder a Rolls Royce as a thank you for singing ‘Happy Birthday’ at her 50th birthday party.
20Oprah’s Forsyth County Episode
In 1987, Oprah Winfrey did a show on location from Forsyth County in Georgia, where no black person had lived in 75 years.
