The kids really don’t know, but Oprah really is one of the most impactful people of the past fifty years. Oprah participated in Vanity Fair’s “Rewatch” video series, and they only managed to fit in a handful of her biggest moments, all while Oprah talked about what was happening behind-the-scenes of this or that. She rewatched the “you get a car” moment on her show, she rewatched the male-survivors episode, she rewatched scenes from The Color Purple. Honestly, this video could have been three hours long and I would have watched it all. The part that’s getting the most attention? Around the 15-minute mark, she rewatches a clip from her 2021 interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Remember, at first Oprah was only supposed to interview Meghan, then we learned that Prince Harry hopped into a chair and spilled to Oprah as well. I’ve queued it to the Sussex interview section:
Wait, did we know that Oprah interviewed them for three-and-a-half hours?? Release the Oprah Cut!! Oprah analyzed the infamous “were you silent, or were you silenced?” moment, which has been a meme since it happened. Oprah says that she asked that question “for clarification.” She then told a long-winded story about how she learned that, for her, she just needs to stay inside her house and never go out in public if she wants privacy: “If you don’t want to be bothered, stay home…that has been my approach. Very different though, I think, than being royalty or being a movie star.” My guess is that Oprah’s full comments were more nuanced but VF cut it to make it sound like she was telling Harry and Meghan to never leave their house. If that’s what she meant, it’s kind of an absurd suggestion. Oprah’s not really an absurd person, which is why I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt.
The Daily Mail has a story about Oprah “backpedaling.” Was she? No. The Mail also quoted Derangers who are magically still complaining about how Oprah didn’t ask the Sussexes “hard questions.” It makes sense that Derangers are still steaming about the interview since the Windsors themselves have seemingly never recovered. To this day, courtiers still cite the Oprah interview as one of the “reasons” why the Sussexes will never be “forgiven.”
Screencaps courtesy of Vanity Fair video and Harpo/CBS.
