A celebrity columnist has claimed that Oprah Winfrey’s relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was largely “transactional”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have faced a difficult week amid controversy over Princess Diana’s earrings and mixed reactions to the Duchess’s Cookie Queens documentary.
Adding to the scrutiny, Oprah Winfrey’s past relationship with the Sussexes has returned to the spotlight. The television icon famously interviewed the couple after they stepped down as senior working royals and moved to the United States.
Celebrity reporter Rob Shuter has now claimed that Oprah quickly distanced herself from Harry and Meghan once their high-profile interview had served its purpose.
Speaking to Maureen Callahan on The Nerve, Shuter said he had contacted people familiar with Oprah, who described her as someone willing to move on quickly when she loses interest in a relationship or project.
“When she’s done, she’s done,” he said in a YouTube Shorts clip.
Shuter went on to describe Oprah’s connection with the Sussexes as “very transactional,” claiming Harry and Meghan believed they had developed a close friendship with her.
“She pretended to be their best friend, they thought they were her best friends, and then pretty much after that interview, she dropped them,” he alleged.
The columnist also recalled meeting Oprah backstage while he was working with singer Alicia Keys. He said Oprah was charming before and during the taping but left almost immediately once the show had finished.
Using that encounter to explain his view, Shuter suggested that Oprah is highly selective about the people and causes with which she associates herself publicly.
“Oprah tries to bet on the right horse,” he claimed, adding that she tends to support people who are having a major cultural moment before stepping away when the situation becomes controversial.
According to Shuter, Oprah is no longer prepared to use her considerable influence to support Harry and Meghan.
“I think Harry and Meghan now have become too toxic even for Oprah,” he said.
He also questioned whether another interview with the couple would offer anything new, suggesting that the questions audiences most want answered are unlikely to receive candid responses.
“What is she going to ask them? And what are they going to answer?” Shuter asked. “The interview that we want is not an interview that they’re ever going to do. So why bother?”
Neither Oprah nor representatives for Harry and Meghan appear to have publicly responded to Shuter’s latest claims.
