Five Years Later, Oprah and James Frey to Meet Again

By PopEater Staff Posted May 10th 2011 05:22PM

Because one day isn't enough time to confront a guy after you shattered his career into a million little pieces, Oprah Winfrey is setting aside two episodes in her final weeks to interview infamous author James Frey.

Frey will sit down with Winfrey on May 16 and 17 and will probably talk about that one time in early 2006 when she called him out for deceiving her and readers with wild tales of cop-hitting and jail time in his supposed biography 'A Million Little Pieces.'

The show revealed the booking on Tuesday's episode when the announcer deemed it "the biggest controversy in Oprah show history."

The author revealed in a 2009 Vanity Fair interview that Winfrey has already apologized for the televised tush-whooping she gave Frey on her show after he admitted 'Pieces' contained embellishments.

"You conned us all," she said during the shaming, which also included Frey's publisher Nan Talese. "It's embarrassing and disappointing for me."

It was a particularly hard-edged, cringe-inducing episode uncharacteristic of Winfrey's normal persona of a positive life guru.

Since then, the TV icon has seen the error of her methods. According to Frey, Winfrey explained that she now realizes that the legendary ambush was actually about her bruised ego and the pain of having been personally betrayed. She is the one who brought riches and fame upon Frey by selecting 'Pieces' for her book club.

Winfrey's show ends May 25 after 25 years.

Tags: James Frey, Oprah Winfrey

Comments

(39)

Tuesday 10 May

By Jethrine

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Oprah has no reason to apologize to James Frey. Instead, she should apologize to the wonderful writers who are struggling to get recognition, and who she is ignoring in favor of two more interviews with this loser. Why waste more time on this man who is not a great writer? The fact that his book was chocked full of grammatical errors and run-sentences added to the realism of the book as a memoir. Therefore, if A Million Little Pieces isn't true, then he's just another hack who should be ignored.

By Pat

She can't stop apologizing to this thief. He lived off the system for decades as a drug abuser and never paid back a penny for his decades of social upcare. But she feels this guilt and apologies are necessary for what, why waste time on this garbage.

Wednesday 11 May

By sally

I think the choice to interview him is AGAIN & AS USUAL about Oprah herself. I would expect her to flaunt how forgiving she has been & how wonderful & "life changing" HER decision was to forgive him.

By Shane

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The guy is still getting paid. One of his recent books was turned into a movie series, "I am Number Four". I actually bought the E-book of it not knowing he was the writer because he and the guy he writes with now goes by "Pittacus Lore". He probably did that because he knows that most people wouldn't realize it's him.

By ddjiao

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It was a particularly hard-edged, cringe-inducing episode uncharacteristic of Winfrey's normal persona of a positive life guru.I love reading this , So does My boyfriend .he is almost 11year older than me .i met him via agelessc'upid.c'om a nice place for seeking age le ss love.which gives you a chance to make your life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive young girls and treat you like a king. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends..

By Kat2988

it was still a great read, true or not

By mrytle

These last few weeks of Oprah have been a huge disapointment. Chaz Bono was not newsworthy. More "fat" people today on the show. Thursday is the last makeover show. Now I see why she is leaving after 25 years - its the same nonsense or stories that nobody cares about really. I have turned off Oprah after a few minutes - very disappointing shows lately. And this is her last month.

By judy

I agree with the post that says Oprah's shows have been declining in interest over time. I find her shows biased, boring and uninteresting. There's always an end like in the song, "Turn turn .....I forget the words. Oprah's guests were the type of people I did not care to hear from anymore. She didn't have many experts on just her friends to promote their goodies.

By pugz

it seems she is stuck in three main topics. if it's not about being a woman or about being fat, it's about being black.

By Steve

I agree. Oprah shouldn't apologize to this guy. She essentially MADE his career. He should have labeled his book a work of "fiction" if he wanted to put in lies. What he did was deceive Oprah and all of her fans that im sure he gladly cut his check from. The media blew this way out of proportion. I agree she should give the 2nd day to a deserving author.
"She who giveth can also taketh away" lol He should be glad he was put into the limelight by her in the first place.

By Lynda Ortiz

Who gives Oprah the right to play judge,jury and executioner. Don't get me wrong I like Oprah. But in this case she took it to far. What is the true meaning of Fiction? A writer who writes fiction sometimes writes from within wheather it happened to him or not.In some cases it's turning non-fiction into fiction.It was awful what she did to this man.She has alot of nerve to ask him back.....I rest my case.

By jaycee

agree....i lost a lot of respect for oprah when she berated this man, unbeknownst to him in front of the world. he sat there and just took it. i was much more impressed with him at that moment than i was with her. i'm glad she's seen the "error of her ways" but still....she could have handled it SO much differently. And like another poster said, it was still a great read! get over the memoir vs fiction vs non fiction - a great read is just that.

By bethany

i agreee with you!! no doubt

By slm

Yes and he had the "nerve" to accept.

By Frobisher

...and we need to know this because...?

By zoilman

not one day too soon--go away already

By pinelrus

I AGREE with you Jethrine!!! She should meet him privately if she feels she still "owes" him an opology or to make herself feel better because she now realizes it was her bruised ego, etc. for the bashing. I bought the book, he made money off me. There are just TOO FEW SHOWS LEFT to waste on giving him even just 15 more minutes of fame.... errrrr..

By Susan

Oprah was brutal with him. I read his book just weeks before the fiction was revealed, it was a good book regardless.

By bill

It was less than a week ago when Oafpra debuted her new hair style - a bob. Less than a week later she's got that thick long black pelt on her head again. So much for all you apologists who said she hasn't been wearing wigs and hair weaves the past 25 years.

By Rob

With his imagination he should be writing history.

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