Media mogul Oprah Winfrey made an appearance at the Cannes Lions International festival, where she reflected on her decades-long career as a media personality. During the chat, the star shared tidbits from her life on the film sets while encouraging up-and-coming media personalities to show restraint and compassion.
Oprah on her time with Whitney Houston
Speaking with Cannes Lions chairman Phil Thomas, Winfrey discussed philanthropy, her journey to becoming one of the most influential self-made figures and more. Emphasising the responsibility that comes with influence, Winfrey revisited one of her most memorable interviews with Whitney Houston on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Recalling the trust they established before filming, she said, “We did the whole, ‘Hey girl, how you doing?’ greeting thing and then I stopped the cameras and I went behind stage and I said, ‘So tell me, what do you want to happen here? And I’m gonna tell you what I want to happen here.’ And that was one of the most powerful interviews.”
Oprah recalls Whitney Houston falling off stage
She went on to reveal that Houston later returned to the show for a performance at a time when she had relapsed. “I had such trust from ‘The Oprah Show’ audience … I think it was [Houston’s] last show with us, and she had gone back on drugs,” Winfrey said.”The first interview I did with her when we’d gone behind stage and I asked her about her intention, she was clean, but the day she came to my show then to perform in front of the audience, she was not, and she fell off of the stage.”
Oprah ‘begged’ audience not to spill Whitney Houston details to media
The television host recalled ‘begging’ her audience not to reveal the incident to the media. She said, “I knew that if that story got out … she would be destroyed by that. And so even though the audience was there and the audience had cameras, I begged them not to put those pictures out because it would ruin her life, and they did not.”Reflecting on how dramatically the media landscape has changed since then, Winfrey added, “That would not happen today, I can tell you that.”Houston, died in February 2012 at the age of 48. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning.
