Oprah Winfrey is great at interviewing other people. But she doesn’t want us to know much about herself.
Oprah has just cancelled an Apple TV Plus documentary from award winner Kevin Macdonald. She reportedly gave Apple the money they paid her (enough to buy a warehouse of Macs). Macdonald’s work will never be seen now.
This isn’t the first time Oprah has cancelled projects she commissioned or approved about herself.
In 1993, she pulled back an autobiography that was ready to be published. That caused quite a stir because, in publishing no one does that. Oprah had been paid a stunning $3 million advance. But she gave it back just three months before pub date.
In 2015 I wrote that she had a book she planned for 2017 called “The Life You Want.” Again, the book never materialized.
Macdonald is a respected filmmaker, so the film would have been of merit. But according to sources, Oprah didn’t like the finished product, and she had editorial control.
Martha Stewart feels the same way about her doc, from RJ Cutler, which just showed at the Telluride Film Festival and will be in the Hamptons Film Festival. But ultimately Martha knew most of her life is already in the public domain. The film will come and go.
As for Oprah, we know a lot about her childhood, family life, and years in broadcasting before her show took off in 1986. We know a lot about weight loss. But her personal life with Steadman Graham and Gayle King is less transparent. She’s obviously not ready for public consumption of those details.
I’m curious about Oprah’s observations about her impact on American political life. Her involvement with promoting the Obamas would be fascinating. She’s also had wealthy Republican friends. It’s unknown if Macdonald was able to get into any of that.
Photo courtesy of Brad Balfour
