Oprah Winfrey Attacked by Parasite

A book about television host, producer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey is drawing a sickening amount of attention for “poison pen” biographer Kitty Kelley.

The book, Oprah: A Biography (Crown) will be published on Tuesday. Earlier this week, The New York Times rolled out a spread worthy of a socialite or a rock star in an “interview” by Deborah Solomon called “The Secret Sharer.” With an opening that sounds like it’s straight out of a scandal sheet (is this what the NYT is falling to?) Solomon begins:

Your unauthorized biography of Oprah Winfrey, who turned daytime television into a form of confession and became one of the wealthiest women in the world, comes out this week. The book presents her as a cold manipulator who requires everyone around her to sign confidentiality agreements. What do you consider the most significant disclosure in the book?

And Kelley, with a clear eye to sales, responds:

What I think is the most tantalizing part is that she’s so secretive, that there are so many secrets.

Winfrey is best known for her international philanthropic work and the almost startling success of almost all of her enterprises. She has at various times been called the most affluent African Americans of the 20th century, the most influential woman in the world, the greatest black philanthropist in American history and was, for a time, the world’s only black billionaire. Winfrey’s book club, has often been attributed with the power to sell more copies of books she mentions than any other single source.

Kelley is one of the best known celebrity biographers in the world. She’s written about the Bush family, the British Royal family, Frank Sinatra and others. Kelley is listed as number 80 in Bernard Goldberg’s 2005 book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (HarperCollins).