And considering Oprah’s current girth, a very wide circle it is.
Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters all turned thumbs down on interviews with celebrity biographer Kitty Kelly, whose unauthorized bio of Oprah will soon be released.
Odd, one might have to conclude, considering the gleeful receptions Kelley received from those same hosts when she penned a scandalous bio of George Bush a few years ago.
Margo Howard reports the hypocritical headlines:
“… most of the kingpin interviewers in the mainstream media were astonishingly up front about saying they would not help Kitty Kelley promote her book because they didn’t want to offend Oprah! They didn’t even make up excuses; they flat-out said they didn’t want to offend Oprah. It was surprising, to say the least, that interviewers such as Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters all shut her out. Walter’s turn-down was especially interesting in that she said she wouldn’t even have Kelley on “The View.” I mean, that’s a show with four or five babes nattering on, where no guest is on for more than maybe seven minutes. Walters told Random House publicity she didn’t want to “upset” Oprah. Letterman said he didn’t want to “disrupt” his détente with Oprah. And ABC, whose name might as well now stand for “All ‘Bout Cowards,” made an across-the-board decision that Kelley’s book would be boycotted by all ABC shows. Even second-tier people like Joy Behar followed suit. And Rachael Ray! A cooking show, no less.
Much to our surprise, Kelley has booked an appearance in one unexpected place.
… To their credit, the top show for people flogging books, “The Today Show,” will be Kitty’s first publicity stop when the book is released. Bill O’Reilly will be the second. I find all this really interesting. What is it, I wonder, that has major television people so afraid of Oprah? It is a question whose answer I look forward to finding in Kelley’s book. I will get back to you when I’ve read it.
To his credit, Matt Lauer actually gave Kelley a pretty good grilling when she appeared on the Today Show to hype her bio of George Bush.
Our advice? Don’t bother with Lauer and the Today Show. Wait until Kelley appears on Fox.
Source: Wowowow.com
