I regret that phone call. I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not
matter. And I am deeply sorry about that, because that is not what I believe. I called in because
I love the message of this book and–at the time, and every day I was reading e-mail after e-mail from so many people who have been inspired by it. And I have to say that I allowed that to cloud
my judgment. And so to everyone who has challenged me on this issue of truth, you are absolutely right.
Thank you, Oprah. Thanks for that. I did challenge you to stop standing by a liar and stand up for yourself. I appreciate you apologizing to me. And to millions of others. Now if only James Frey would do the same.
Oprah, I was stunned when you called up Larry King and defended Frey, that fool, a couple of weeks ago. I was crushed, actually, to hear you say that the truth didn’t really matter, that it was the essence of the thing that counted and hey, if he was helping people, then it was OK. You, a person who has built a career upon being truthful, finding the truth, going for the truth.
Thank you for admitting that you got caught up in things. Thank you for coming out and making a no-bones-about-it apology. Thank you for trying to clean this stain on your reputation (a stain whose remnants my friend says will follow you to your grave.)
Thank you for making Frey squirm. Thank you for forcing him to admit that he didn’t just embellish, but in fact lied. Straight-up. About how his girlfriend committed suicide, of all things. Thank you for raking his ass across the coals. I thought you were too kind. (Another hiss back to King for being such a lightweight when he had Frey within his grasp and letting him off the hook.)
Thank you Oprah. You’ve redeemed yourself.
2 Comments
I wanted to slaaaap my girl Oprah when she called that flatliner Larry King to defend that phony weasel-voiced jerk.UUUUGH! I even let my Oprah magazine subscription lapse b/c I was so mad at the sistah. "The essential truth?" A lot of things are "essentially true," such as Bush "winning" the elections. (Wish you felt as bad about that dude lying to the ENTIRE WORLD as you do about that ex-druggie a-hole.)
Now, if Frey’s "fans" read "Night," (which I’ve read many times) they’ll realize he doesn’t know from suffering. Try spending your teen years in a death camp, dick-wad!:
"Where is God now?"
And I heard a voice within me answer him: "Where is He? Here He is He is hanging here on this gallows". . . . That night the soup tasted of corpses.
You’re so sweet. Yes, O was pissed, wasn’t she. I do think she could have been tougher on the publisher, Nan Talese. But she had Frey in her crosshairs. He did look like he was about to vomit a couple of times.