In an extraordinary reversal of her strident defense of the author whose book she catapulted to the top of the best-seller list, Oprah Winfrey said today she believed that the author James Frey "betrayed millions of readers" by making up elements of his life in his best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces."She added that she believed "I made a mistake" when she said that the truth of the book mattered less than its story of redemption.
In a live broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" from her studios in Chicago in which she interviewed Mr. Frey, Ms. Winfrey apologized to her audience for her call to "Larry King Live" earlier this month defending the author. Today, Ms. Winfrey, alternately fighting back tears and displaying vivid anger, berated Mr. Frey for duping her and her audience.
See the original post on the exposure of author James Frey's lies here.
Oprah, who to me is admirable on many levels already, demonstrates her integrity and her humility by this strong public reversal of her previous statements, which were made in the immediate aftermath of the disclosure of Frey's deceptions. She could have just kept quiet about it, and the issue would have gone away in time.
I suspect she may have heard from a lot of people who are recovering from alcohol or drug addictions, and who know that a large part of that recovery lies in rigorous honesty with one's self. I suspect she now realizes that holding up as an example of how to deal with an addiction a person who has been grossly dishonest about the nature and extent of his own addiction, helps no one.
Whatever the reasons for her rethinking of the issue, she just gained a few points on my respect-o-meter.
And here's the story of another non-fiction hoax. Sheesh.
Posted by dan at January 26, 2006 1:47 PM