Outing Oprah News Today

The column and the network and comeich apologized. and coming up, outing oprah, kitty kelley takes on the queen of daytime in her latest controversial celebrity biography. plus, courting conan. the late-night funny man moving to basic cable. is this a giant step down for the comic who once held forth on "the tonight show"? determine if a car is a best buy? first they drive it in the real world. and put it through its paces. they rate its fit and finish. and the amenities inside. they factor ...

Season of "the oprah winfrey show". >> now a celebrity biographer is presenting a somewhat different picture of oprah. kitty kelley who has done books on jackie o., elizabeth taylor, frank sinatra, nancy reagan, the bush family, and the british royals is out this week with her 500-page take on the talk show queen. and kitty kelley joins me now in the studio to talk about the book called "oprah: a biography" and its already stirring controversy. welcome. >> hi, howie. >> you say that lots of majo...

>> well, i try and name every single person. i mean, when i wrote the frank sinatra book more than 20 years ago, i thought, im putting every single person on the record. cant do it. you simply cant do it, because people sometimes put their jobs in danger, employees who talk to me who have worked for oprah in the past and a couple that work for her now stepped forward to talk to me. they did it under real legal pressure. these people have signed confidentiality agreements never to talk and oprah,...

And she said, oprah winfrey, i dont need a white magazine to cannonize me. what do you make of that? >> in the book, shed gotten hammered by barbara harrison in "the new york times" sunday magazine, and i think she was responding to that. she has really never gotten over that interview, and howie, youve got to understand that for the last 25 years, oprah has really, for the most part, had halo coverage. and so when barbara harrison came out with this piece in "the new york times" sunday magazine...

Sexual abuse, the child he gave birth to at 15 that didnt live, her weight issues and all of that. shes opened up a lot of these areas of inquiry, so that makes it harder for a biographer, i would think, to unearth more thats new. >> i dont think thats a biographers job, really, to unearth more that is new. i think there is a lot in this book that is new, but i dont think when you set out to give the totality of somebodys life, youre necessarily looking for something new. when i went to intervie...

But youre right, certainly not the "today" show, certainly not fox news, and certainly not cnn. ive had a lot -- >> larry king says he hasnt talked to you in five years, so he wouldnt have been involved in the decision. >> oh, indeed. he was asked to book this show, but he said he just couldnt do it because of hoprah -- >> well, his producers were asked to book the show -- >> well, right, when i say "they said," i mean the producers. >> i want to talk about a question matt lauer asked you. lets ...

Oprah about how leno was coming off as the bad guy because he was coming back after giving up "the tonight show" throne and squeezing conan out of his 11:35 time is isnt conan basically doing the same thing to tbs. george lopez had been on at that hour and hes agreed to go an hour later to make room for conan. its a business. >> well, you know, theyve all made a very big point of saying that conan absolutely would not have quote/unquote lenoed another comedian. george lopez called him to say he ...

This is a woman whos been engaged to stedman graham since 1992, and will probably never marry him, at least according to what her father told me, and she travels and is seen more frequently with gayle king. it is not a question that came from me, it is a question that is raised frequently. >> an elephant in the room. >> the elephant in the room. >> i know you compiled all of oprah winfreys many interviews over the years, but how hard was it to report this book without her cooperation and many of...

I dont think until barack -- >> but those of us who really follow her and embrace her, we need an understanding of this woman. >> fair enough. i dont think until barack obama, she told us which politicians to support. but you get into all this speculation about her sexual orientation, her relationship with gayle king. why go there? >> because when youre doing a biography, you want the total picture. and sexuality is very much a part of it. >> you were not able to answer that question? you raised...

About oprah. >> no, i dont. and i -- on the question that matt lauer offered about privacy, legally, there is no privacy and journalistically for celebrities, as he said, who accepts the mantle of celebrity, it sounds like it comes down from god. >> well, shes a huge cultural figure. >> a huge figure. >> but doesnt hold any public office. so why would you -- >> ill tell you why. because oprah has such influence in this culture. she has more influence on our lives, possibly, than the government. ...