14 DAY TRIAL // Oprah Winfrey is undeniably the biggest thing in television, and arguably the most successful woman in showbiz in general. With an empire than spans from her television show to her magazine and various charity projects in far-away countries, Oprah is a unique brand of celebrity: the kind that audiences can relate to, thus love tenfold.
For “poison pen” biographer Kitty Kelley, who has made millions in unauthorized biographies of some of the biggest celebrities out there, Oprah is a mystery that her latest book, simply called “Oprah: A Biography,” will shed light on. In it, for instance, she claims the television personality lied about many things from her life, including her family and how she was raised, Metro says. The reason for hiding the truth is simple, says a cousin of Oprah for Kelley: only drama sells this good.
“Now, you have to understand that I love Oprah, and I love all the good work she does for others, but I do not understand the lies that she tells. She’s been doing it for years now. Where Oprah got that nonsense about growing up in filth and roaches, I have no idea. (Oprah’s grandmother) kept a spotless house… It was a wooden, six-room house with a large living room that had a fireplace and rocking chair,” says Katharine Esters, the cousin in question.
“Oh, I’ve talked to her about this over the years. I’ve confronted her and asked ‘Why do you tell such lies?’ Oprah told me, ‘That’s what people want to hear. The truth is boring, Aunt Katharine. People don’t want to be bored. They want stories with drama. That story [of abuse] helped launch Oprah and make her what she is today…I don’t hold with telling lies, but in this case I forgive Oprah because she has done so much for other people. Maybe this was the only way for a poor child to succeed and become rich. Now she does her good works to make her amends,” the same cousin explains for Kelley’s book.
As for Kelley herself, she claims the book is not meant to bring down an icon but rather, as all her biographies do, to take that icon out of the spotlight and put it in the sunlight. She always wondered how come no biographer ever covered Oprah’s early years – and she recently found out that they didn’t because they were scared.