{"id":473003,"date":"2026-05-07T13:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/473003\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:09:11","slug":"oprah-winfrey-is-coming-to-dublin-here-are-10-of-her-most-memorable-moments-through-the-years-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/473003\/","title":{"rendered":"Oprah Winfrey is coming to Dublin. Here are 10 of her most memorable moments through the years \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The queen of chat is hitting the road. In September, Oprah Winfrey<\/a> will appear at the 3Arena<\/a> in Dublin<\/a> for what is billed as a \u201cunique live experience\u201d. This isn\u2019t Oprah\u2019s debut tour \u2013 she has been headlining arenas in the United States<\/a> for years. But it is certainly a first for Ireland \u2013 and a reminder that, during the peak of her 1986 to 2011 chatshow, there was no bigger cultural force on television. Whether nattering with royalty, turning obscure books into best-sellers or encouraging movie stars to be their best, cringiest selves, here are 10 Oprah moments that speak to her stardom.<\/p>\n

10. The weight wagon (1988)<\/p>\n

Oprah accidentally nailed the concept of \u201ctoo much information\u201d when she wheeled on a kids\u2019 trolley loaded with 4.7 stone in animal fat to demonstrate how much weight she had shed on a \u201cstrict liquid diet\u201d. The episode was the highest rated ever of the Oprah Winfrey Show – but she later apologised for promoting extreme dieting.<\/p>\n

9. James Frey book club scandal (2006)\"JamesJames Frey’s book A Million Little Pieces at a bookstore in New York City, 2006. Photograph: Spencer Platt\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

By the early 21st century, Oprah\u2019s Book Club had the power to turn obscure writers into overnight best-sellers. But with such influence came huge scrutiny \u2013 as Winfrey discovered when it was revealed that the James Frey addiction memoir she had endorsed contained significant fabrications, such as the claim that the author had spent \u201c87 days\u201d in jail (it was just a few hours). With her reputation on the line, Winfrey summoned Frey back to her show for the mother of dressings-down. \u201cI feel duped,\u201d she said as the humbled Frey sank into the couch. \u201cBut more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers.\u201d<\/p>\n

8. Oprah vs Jonathan Franzen (2001)<\/p>\n

Most authors would have given a spare limb to be selected for the Oprah Book Club. But not literary \u201cIt Boy\u201d Jonathan Franzen, who worried Oprah\u2019s endorsement of his family melodrama, The Corrections, would lead to a perception that he had gone \u201clowbrow\u201d. Oprah did not take his remarks well and withdrew an invitation to have Franzen on her show. Was it a fit of pique? Or was she correct to push back against what many at the time regarded as snobbery by Franzen towards Oprah\u2019s audience, which was largely female and working class? Either way, it was too late for Franzen\u2019s publishers, which had printed an additional half a million copies of The Corrections in anticipation of an Oprah bounce.<\/p>\n

7. Oprah vs the farmers of Texas (1997)<\/p>\n

In 1996, Winfrey concluded a segment about the outbreak of mad cow disease in Britain by stating that concerns over food safety had \u201cjust stopped me cold from eating a burger\u201d. This didn\u2019t go down well with cattle ranchers in Texas, who sued her for \u201cfalse disparagement of a perishable food product\u201d \u2013 ie, their delicious beef. The case went to trial in 1997 and eventually was struck out. Leaving the courthouse in Amarillo, Oprah declared: \u201cFree speech not only lives, it rocks.\u201d History does not record whether she celebrated by going to Burger King for a Whopper.<\/p>\n

6. Jenny McCarthy\u2019s anti-vaccine madness (2007)<\/p>\n

Winfrey was widely criticised for giving a platform to actor and model McCarthy in 2007, who linked her son\u2019s autism to the MMR vaccine. \u201cI said to the doctor, I have a very bad feeling about this shot,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cThis is the autism shot, isn\u2019t it?\u201d <\/p>\n

Winfrey hailed McCarthy as a \u201cmother warrior\u201d and praised her book, Louder Than Words: A Mother\u2019s Journey in Healing Autism. She also read out a statement from America\u2019s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated there was no link between autism and vaccines. \u201cIt is important to remember, vaccines protect and save lives,\u201d the statement read. However, McCarthy had the last word when she referred to her son. \u201cMy science is named Evan, and he\u2019s at home,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s my science.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Mo\u2019Nique and her estranged family (2010)<\/p>\n

Actor Mo\u2019Nique said she was blindsided by Oprah when the host confronted her with her estranged family in an interview promoting her movie Precious. Mo\u2019Nique said she had agreed to her brother appearing, but was shocked when Oprah also brought on her mother and other family members. She would later describe Oprah as a \u201cbetrayer\u201d. \u201cYou betrayed me, sister,\u201d Mo\u2019Nique told a podcast in 2024. \u201cHad Oprah Winfrey said, \u2018I\u2019m [going to] have your mama [on the show]\u2019 I would\u2019ve said shut that shit down.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Oprah and Whitney Houston (2009)<\/p>\n

Houston<\/a> spoke at length about her substance abuse and her troubled marriage to Bobby Brown in a searing two-part interview that took place just three years before her death. She delved into her drug use \u2013 and revealed her biggest addiction was to Brown, whom she had divorced two years previously. \u201cHe was my drug. I didn\u2019t do anything without him. I wasn\u2019t getting high by myself. It was me and him together.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Oprah and Michael Jackson (1993)<\/p>\n

Desperately in need of an image reboot, Michael Jackson<\/a> turned to Oprah. While he had yet to be publicly accused of child abuse, his addiction to plastic surgery and the stark whitening of his skin had fuelled his \u201cWacko Jacko\u201d persona. He went on Oprah and stated that his lightened skin was the result of a medical condition, vitiligo. It was the first major sit-down TV interview Jackson had given in years and Oprah did not stand on ceremony: at one point during the exchange at Neverland Ranch she even asked the singer if he was a virgin. \u201cHow could you ask me that question?\u201d he responded, adding, \u201cI\u2019m a gentleman\u201d.<\/p>\n

2. Harry and Meghan (2021)<\/p>\n

A chat with Oprah in the back garden of their home<\/a> in California seemed the perfect way for the Sussexes to quietly reboot their careers as thoroughly modern celebs, free of the restrictions of royalty. But it didn\u2019t take long for Oprah \u2013 their neighbour, with a house just up the road in Montecito \u2013 to cut through the couple\u2019s polished exterior and to lay bare the stark truth of life in the British royal family. Most shocking was Meghan\u2019s revelation about the discussions she had while pregnant with their first child, Archie. There had, she said, been \u201cconcerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he\u2019s born\u201d. \u201cThat conversation I\u2019m never going to share,\u201d Harry added later. \u201cAt the time, it was awkward. I was a bit shocked.\u201d Everyone was shocked \u2013 not least executives at Netflix, who had just signed Harry and Meghan to a multi-million-dollar production deal including a tell-all documentary. But wily Oprah had got the horrid truth out of them first.<\/p>\n

1. Tom Cruise on the couch (2005)<\/p>\n

It took years for Cruise\u2019s reputation to recover from the onslaught of pure cringe that was his declaration of love for future wife, Katie Holmes. Theoretically promoting the film War of the Worlds, Cruise looked like an alien playing at being a human as he pumped his fist, fell to his knees, slapped the ground and, yes, bounced on a couch. For once, Winfrey was largely lost for words. \u201cWhat has happened to you?\u201d she blurted, adding, \u201cWe\u2019ve never seen you behave this way before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for Oprah Winfrey at the 3Arena on Mon, Sept 14 go on presale Thurs, May 7th and on general sale on Fri, May 8th <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The queen of chat is hitting the road. In September, Oprah Winfrey will appear at the 3Arena in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[26778,18,117,2215,19,17,5091,25129,41663,5092,6000,128,92823],"class_list":{"0":"post-473003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-3arena","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-for-you","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-meghan-markle","15":"tag-michael-jackson","16":"tag-oprah-winfrey","17":"tag-prince-harry","18":"tag-tom-cruise","19":"tag-tv","20":"tag-whitney-houston"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116533459029176924","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}