Oprah’s Golden Globes speech sounded to many people – myself included – like a campaign speech. There was an uplifting, Obama-esque theme, a call to come together to make this world a better place, a thoughtful historical lesson and HOPE. It says a lot about our desperate straits under Bigly that we’re so hungry for anything resembling that. So after Oprah’s speech, of course people were like OPRAH 2020!! It was even said – by Steadman, no less – that she might really be considering it. But Oprah tells InStyle (in their new cover story) that it’s not going to happen.
On the current political and cultural climate: “Everything that’s happened has brought us to this point in time. We’ve been working our way through a lot of repressed pain, anger, shame, and disappointment. And we weren’t honoring our own voices. Now we’re here, and it took Harvey Weinstein to burst that door wide open. But Harvey wasn’t the first one. It was Bill Cosby before him, and Bill O’Reilly before him. It’s just fascinating to me because I always try to look at things from thousands of feet above…”
On women coming forward about sexism and assault: “It has seared into the consciousness a level of awareness that was not there before. That’s the most important thing to me. When Reese Witherspoon can tell her story at the same time as a farm worker in Iowa or a factory worked in Alabama, it says to a person, ‘Oh well, I’ve been putting up with that a==hole supervisor for all these years. Maybe it’s time for me to do something too.’”
On her candidacy for president: “I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. And so it’s not something that interests me. I don’t have the DNA for it.”
On speaking out on Twitter: “I try not to lean into the hysteria. I’ve heard a lot of Twitter chatter where people have said, ‘Where are you? You should be speaking up on these things!’ But it makes no sense to speak when you cannot be heard. One hundred and forty characters – that is not how you want to make your mark in the world.”
On life in her 60s: “You take no sh-t. None. Not a bit. In your 40s you want to say you take no shit, but you still do. In your 60s you take none. There’s both a quickening and a calming – there’s a sense that you don’t have as much time on earth as you once did…people coming with anything less than what is the truth or authentic? Don’t even try.”
My mom said that when she turned 60 as well, that she has less tolerance for fools and nonsense and the everyday bullsh-t of life. Maybe in my heart I’m already 60-something. As for what Oprah says about running for president… I can see why she wouldn’t. I get it – why put yourself through that? But on the other hand, we need women to run for office. We need women to get fed up with the status quo and realize that they too could run for office and win and change things from the inside.
InStyle cover courtesy of Phil Poynter for InStyle.
She seems like a decent person. Decent people rarely if ever become politicians. Not on such a big scale at least.
And it seems strange to elect a celebrity with no experience. Maybe because your system is designed diferently, but personal charisma seems to play a much bigger role in America than it does in Europe.
Also, coming from a country that had a female president and prime minister, it’s sad that it’s such a huge deal still in America.
call me crazy… but dontcha think that its also something to do with her lack of grounding in international relations, economic policy and potential experience in congress……to name a few. Not a Trump fan…but kinda done with TV personalities and movie stars running things due to fame.
That’s exactly what she says in her second para, tho? “And it seems strange to elect a celebrity with no experience.”
I’m ok with this. We don;t need Oprah as president. She is a celebrity and a very successful woman – but what makes us think she has any ability to manage state security, or trade, or the economy etc? I mean, with the current moron in chief I know standards are low, but we need someone with EXPERIENCE in governing, to clean up this absolute f*cking mess.
THIS!!! Haven’t people learn from current affairs.
I’ve had my issues with Oprah over the decades as a WOC. But I have a new found respect for the older quieter Oprah. And what she says about knowing what you can and cannot do speaks volumes. Look at our current POTUS. A man so out of his depth and so uninformed about his job that it would be laughable if he wasn’t in charge of running the country. He has literally said, “I thought the job would be easier”. Hubris is a dangerous thing.
“we need women to run for office. We need women to get fed up with the status quo and realize that they too could run for office and win and change things from the inside.”
Agreed. But also… We JUST had that chance and royally screwed up.
ETA: Also, please don’t use the “we don’t need to vote for a woman just because she’s woman” reasoning with HRC. That doesn’t apply. She was one of the most qualified people to run.
Yes. We had someone smart and extremely qualified and experienced to be president. We screwed up.
Also, Oprah owes us NOTHING. Why would she give up her fabulous life? She’s earned the right to spend her time and efforts doing exactly what she wants– and nothing more.
Exactly. The idea that people want a woman to clean up a man toddler’s mess is…insulting.
This interview was conducted before the Globes so I’d take it with a grain of salt.
DNA? I thought all you needed was Twitter followers?
Does she have political experience? Oprah is a great person, but I don’t understand why Americans are so hellbent on celebrities getting a hold of the nuclear codes. It hasn’t done you all very well so far.
Because many Americans believe a candidate’s likability and ability to be be relatable to common folk are important factors to consider when voting. And sadly, many voters do prize those traits over expertise, knowledge of policy issues and competency.
I think it was more like she saw most people weren’t jazzed by the idea, lol. I think anyone has the right to “run”…but no, you don’t get to jump in at the top. If she wants public office, she should start local.
As a scientist, I’m so sick of hearing ‘it’s in their DNA.’ Seriously people, this it isn’t 2000 anymore…
I agree we need a woman president. I would love to see Nina Turner get more appreciation and attention.
–She’s right that it wouldn’t be her strong suit. I wouldn’t want Oprah’s solution to ISIS. We took back all of ISIS’s territory in Iraq and Syria because we kicked the press out of those regions, didn’t allow them to embed with the troops and let the military do horrific things to them, which needed to be done because they are Medieval savages. Like it or not, that was exactly the right move. ISIS actually tried to upload videos of them trying to escape our military by taking over civilian buses, and the military blacked out what they did to retaliate and end that. Oprah could not have done any of that. And she knows nothing about creating jobs outside her own talk show. She has no ideas about how to reform education which is badly needed. And I say that woefully because she tries, but she’s one of the most unscientific, non-technical people in all of Hollywood. She admitted on air she didn’t have the “brain” to work her own remote control. Even her reading material is limited as more than a few respected authors have noted.
–Keep in mind she’s also retired. That’s not what you’re looking for in a dynamic leader. I couldn’t vote for a retired talk show host.
–She’s such a magnificent power player in her current role. She does a lot of good by sticking to her strong suits so faithfully. So that’s a different form of genius right there and she’s basically living as a queen by knowing what she’s brilliant at. So I commend her for essentially being too smart in her own emotionally-driven way to run for president. She’s a great woman and I believe she empowers others as is. It’s also nice to have someone who rarely says a negative word about others. She never told us why she passed over Hillary Clinton to support Barack Obama in 2008. She evidently had reasons, but I appreciate her restraint. She rarely goes negative. Let Oprah be the queen in her domain.