James Frey And Nan Talese: Oprah Duped Us!

Amid the Miley Cyrus hoopla, it's easy to forget that there's a whole issue of Vanity Fair that comes out today. And one article in the magazine that is a must-read is Evgenia Peretz' interview with James Frey (supposedly the last interview he will ever give).

The article attempts to be the definitive account of how Frey went from addict to screenwriter to best selling author to public enemy, and how he picked up his million little pieces to write another novel, Bright Shiny Morning.

As Peretz details in the following excerpt, Frey and his publisher Nan Talese claim that Oprah — who went from champion to critic in a matter of weeks — duped them, tricking them to get on her show under false pretense and then attacking them as soon as the cameras began to roll:

As Talese recounted at a televised publishing conference last July, the show invited her and Frey together. Talese initially resisted. Then they were approached with a new pitch. The topic was going to be "Truth in America," and they wanted Talese on a panel with columnists Frank Rich, of The New York Times, and Richard Cohen, from The Washington Post. Given this scenario, Talese agreed. But when she and Frey arrived at Harpo Studios, in Chicago, they were told that the program was not, in fact, about Truth in America; it was about the James Frey controversy. Winfrey told Frey it would be rough, but said there would be redemption in the end. There was no redemption. From beginning to end, it was, according to Talese, "a public scourge."

Oprah, who just two weeks before had stood by the "essential truth" of Frey's story, now pounced on his every other word, while the audience booed him.

"I've struggled with the idea of it and ... " began Frey, in a typical exchange.

"No, the lie of it," snapped Oprah. "That's a lie. It's not an idea, James. That's a lie."

"I feel like I came here, and I have been honest with you," he said at the end of the hour. "I have, you know, essentially admitted to ... " "Lying," Oprah broke in....

"He felt trapped and cornered," recalls Talese today. A spokesperson for Oprah claims that "Truth in America" was always the topic for the show and that Talese had been informed of the full range of questions in the pre-interview. Talese maintained (as she still does) that memoirs have always been personal impressions, and didn't seem to realize that, for better or for worse, the game was now up. She was disgusted at the spectacle Oprah was making, appalled at her manners and at what she allegedly told Frey after the show was over: "I know it was rough, but it's just business." Winfrey denies ever making such a comment. "Once again, the truth is not being served here," she says in a statement to Vanity Fair. "In 22 years of doing this show, I have never said to anyone, 'I know it was rough, but it's just business.' This was beyond business. This was about the trust I share with the audience who faithfully supports the Book Club and buys the books I recommend; and based on that trust, I thought we were owed an explanation about the truth of this memoir."

Read the entire article online here or pick up this month's copy of Vanity Fair.

Alternatively, watch the video of the controversial Oprah appearance at Oprah's website.

Comments

[Gracchus21st]

I have to give Frey credit for sheer gall. He's like the drunk driver who sideswipes you, causes you to total your car, and then demands you pay to repair his car's scratched paint.

As for Nan Talese, well ... a competent manager would usually take this kind of disaster out of the hide of someone like Frey -- demand that he return all royalties and his advance. But this is the publishing industry we're talking about -- I wouldn't trust most of their executives behind the counter of a Kwik-E-Mart.

[dana94591]

Oprah did it to regain her credibility after the scandal happened.

[huffy2001]

In my mind she never had any to begin with. And people eat her up. It's no wonder we are in the mess we're in.

[dana94591]

Oprah is not the reason why we are in this "mess". James Frey wanted to become a well-know author so he got Nan Talese, one of the best editors in the book selling business , to help "move" his book and make him a star. They sent the book to Oprah knowing full well that once she put her stamp of approval on that book it would be a success. Now he has to eat it!!!!! If he has just said it was fiction maybe we would not have the bad taste in our mouths when we see his work promoted in a book store. I just walk right by it!!! Won't even touch it!

[saltpeter]

There's nothing discernably different between the BS spewed in the pages of A Million Little Pieces and the BS spewed in the pages of The Secret. Both were written by charlatans looking to get a buck. But, at least, Frey wasn't trying to indoctrinate the masses into living his lie. I pretty much am suspect of anyone who reads a book purely because Oprah WInfrey told them to. Whatever works of literature that inspires an ego-maniacal primadonna who sucks up to soccer moms and their self-created problems just for a buck holds no interest to me. If you're looking for inspirational works of literature, you would be wise to stay well away from the any works that Oprah or Dr. Phil advocate.

[JUNIORSBOX]

Politiking : I don't and would never understand the fascination with Oprah.
**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­**********­*********
Oprah is and always has been a publicity whore. She thrives on controversy
and manufactures a great deal of that publicity. Always one to turn on a dime,
when it suits her agenda. She hasn't become such a great media sensation
by exploiting the truth. She exploits people to further her own career, without
looking back. James Frey is just another of Oprah's tools at her disposal.
Watch out Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, Gail and Dr. Love. She will no doubt chew
you up and spit you out, as it serves her purpose. This is "show business"
and Oprah is a genius when it comes to both.
Wait until the day, that Obama rubs her the wrong way. Sometime during
her 4th season, she went from being America's most darling hostess - to
an on & off again participant in a love/hate relationship with her viewers.
Don't pity the fool who was "tricked" into appearing on her show. There is
no such thing as bad publicity. Would anyone truly be surprised, to learn
James Frey was a willing participant in the recent public showdown ?
Money actually does talk and there's no stopping Ms. Winfrey. No matter
what people happen to believe, the woman is no fool !

[caseyblab]

Your level of negativity says more about you than about Oprah Winfrey. She has done a lot of good things.

[jubo]

Everyday, television proves it makes you stupid. Every second of every day...

[FirstShirt]

Except for Animal Planet.

[Dan1967]

Why are the major news channels trying to tear down Barack Obama? What is their true motivation?

It makes me sad to see Hillary Clinton brown-nosing the Republican hate machine. Barack Obama is the only candidate who can take our country away from the politics of fear and hate, and in to a new era of hope and change.

BARACK OBAMA ONLY NEEDS 295 DELEGATES TO WIN THE NOMINATION!

The voters in North Carolina and Indiana, with a win for Obama in their primary's, can put this marathon Democratic primary to an end by voting for Barack Obama.

Barack has 1,730 delegates as of today. He needs 2,025 to win the nomination. I want every Democrat and Independant in Indiana and North Carolina to get to the polls and vote for Barack Obama. Don't let the media spin and the right wing conservative media conglomorates win this election.

Barack Obama is by far the strongest candidate against McCain. Go to www.pollster.com (type it in if the link does not work) and check out the state by state polls. Barack Obama is leading McCain in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, and even Colorado. Hillary is losing to McCain in Michigan, Oregon, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Colorado and she is tied with McCain in Minnesota. If Hillary can't win Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Oregon in the general election, then she can't beat McCain.

VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA IN NORTH CAROLINA AND INDIANA, AND LETS GET A DEMOCRAT WIN IN NOVEMBER!

[TrollsTakeYourMedstoo]

Ummmm.....­I think this thread is about Oprah.

[detroitblackpages]

You are soooooooo correct! How can we get this turned around on the media as they were the culprits in the first place...an­yone that is a Barack Obama supporter email every news organization, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, C-Span. Bill O'Reilly, etc. Or was it the Clinton campaign that put the sound bites of Rev. Wright on the airways?
There wasn't anything negative on Obama to use, so they found this sermon and the rest is history. How can we geat this campaign started?

[detroitblackpages]

You are soooooooo correct! How can we get this turned around on the media as they were the culprits in the first place...an­yone that is a Barack Obama supporter email every news organization, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, C-Span. Bill O'Reilly, etc. Or was it the Clinton campaign that put the sound bites of Rev. Wright on the airways?
There wasn't anything negative on Obama to use, so they found this sermon and the rest is history. How can we geat this campaign started?

[escobar]

Naughty Opra, tricking the trickster.

[slobone]

He's like one of those guys who sleeps with his wife's sister and then goes on Jerry Springer, and is surprised when he gets ambushed. But Nan Talese should have known better -- she's been around for a while... "Frank Rich isn't here? Wait a minute..."

[hopeforchange]

Oprah uses people all the time. This is just one example.

[RaraAvis17]

I never understood why Frey lied in the first place and then agrees to go on national TV and one of the most watched shows in the world and doesn't think he would be busted by someone that actually knew him? Hello. Was he on drugs or what?

[swingerofbirches]

Truth can be written as fiction.

I knew the book was BS when he was taken to the dentist and wasn't allowed to have local anesthesia because of his drug addictions so they gave him Valium instead! Made no sense.

[Star2000dancer]

Actually that is a dental option.

[dr4Will]

op rah the black liar is no different than fox,bush,o­bama.wrigh­t,rezko and powell

[NicoleAnonymous]

The "black" liar?

Please put your white sheet and hood away - we don't want racists here. And everyone knows the onlyl men who joined the KKK were latent homosexuals with premature ejaculation problems - in order to compensate for this they want to have power over people who can't fight back.

[TrollsTakeYourMedstoo]

Never heard this one, but it makes perfect sense to me.

[detroitblackpages]

You beat me to the punch! You said it best... Dr4Will, you must be a throwback form the Jim Crow days. Can you deny it?

[Steamboater]

Oh so it was those 'faggots' who where under those white sheets after all. And you talk about putting the white sheet away. You must have worn one while writing that post NicoleAnonymous. (An apt handle too for someone who likes white sheets.)

[FirstShirt]

Now boys and girls on the left. Let's get back to your self destruction in the primary. Save your angst for your fellow dems. They need it. The haters [left and right] have no guts anyway.

[politicgirl999]

good point

[detroitblackpages]

Where is this hate coming from? the 50's and 60's? Are you an offspring of the people in that era?

[dana94591]

What? Who let you in here???

[ann1]

If this is true, it's a pity that he had to be lured back on the show. He should have been begging Oprah to have him on the show to apologize not only to her but to the millions who bought his million little lies.

[expatsteve]

"Amid the Miley Cyrus hoopla, it's easy to forget that there's a whole issue of Vanity Fair that comes out today..."

What world do you live in?

[SharonB]

The mere fact that there is anyone interested in knowing the day that Vanity Fair comes out is frightening, isn't it?

[MelFamy]

I was in the middle of "A Million Little Lies" when the scandal broke. As I was reading, my thought was that it was not very well written, but, becuase it was "real", it was a powerful story. Once the truth came out, the book lost any appeal for me. Indeed, I felt betrayed. I believe that Frey sold it as a memoir because, as fiction, his book just didn't make the grade. He deserved his public humiliation, and If Oprah lied to lure him back on the show, well, the irony does not escape me.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I haven't read his book but I think you're being a little too hard on him. Although he might have lied about some of his experiences, he was still an addict - he didn't lie about that. What he did is nothing compared to what Margaret Seltzer did.

And lying to someone just so they will be on your show so you can publically humuliate them and increase your ratings is really lame. Why hasn't she called Jessica Seinfeld about being back on the show to talk about the accusations of plagiarism against her? Although lying and stealing are both bad, I think stealing another person's work is even worse than making up something about your life. At least Frey wrote the book himself.

[BonzaiBoy]

Yes, but he didn't seem to mind how much extra publicity (not to mention how many more books he sold) when Oprah was praising and recommending his book as part of her club. If he wants to give all the profits back as a result of her endorsement, then I'd say he can gripe (though I'd still feel no pity). Otherwise, get over yourself James Frey.

[SharonB]

This is exactly the comment we would expect to hear from someone who is a Clinton supporter.
Truth isn't really important to you, we get it.... we GET it.

[CaptainHowdy]

I was set to work on the film version of the book, to be directed by Mark Romanek, and was extremely disappointed that it fell through because of all this nonsense. It was easily one of the best scripts that I have ever read in my 20+ year career. Whether his accounts where 100% true or not didn't preclude the fact that the story has a very powerful and positive message for people with addiction problems.

I shudder to think how many great films, that have taken liberties with true events, would have also been derailed had asinine websites like The Smoking Gun had existed a few decades earlier.

[NicoleAnonymous]

What exactly was so different about the script that has already been done a thousand times before? There must be a thousand books and movies on addiction experiences and at this point there is absolutely nothing original about the stories. Now Starbucks is selling books from a father about his son being an addict and the son has a book about being an addict and it's SHOCKING that he does horrible things like lies to his family and steal a few dollars from his little brother! And neither book says anything that hasn't been said before in hundreds of books already but if you notice white men seem to be able to land book and movie contracts easier - for some reason they don't make many movies about black or hispanic former addicts.

And what exactly was the positive message that Frey was sending? Everyone should lie about their life and exploit their illness for money?

[CaptainHowdy]

Are you serious? Not all stories are created equal. is "Battlefield Earth" as good as "Star Wars" or "Blade Runner"? They are all sci-fi films with plots and themes used countless times before.

Frey's story just a very well written and compelling, with many interesting characters and events. It reminded me a bit of "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest" in that respect.

The positive aspect is the struggle that he goes through, and eventual breakthrough that he has, which helps him to overcome his addiction.

Whether it was true or not has very little bearing on my appreciation of the story. From what I gather he did go through a lot of what was documented but just embellished the story and added characters.

How about the film "God's and Monster"? Should that film also be reviled because the character that Brendon Frazer portrayed, and all these scenes involving him, was a complete and utter fabrication, in an otherwise biographical film?

So Frey screwed up by not being more forthcoming that the story was heavily embellished. I think he was wrong for doing so, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's a good story.

[observing]

So many celebs have lied on O's show regarding their lives. Are we to believe Frey is the only person to ever lie on her show?

[joelaf]

Wow, shades of Milli-Vanilli. People bought the album(book), liked it then found out it wasn't real (done by someone else) Suddenly everyone feels duped and want a public beheading of the artist. Sometimes I appreciate it when the jokes on me, it keeps my head close to normal human size. Sorry Oprah, the egg on your face would have made a nice omelet.

[CaptainHowdy]

Hmmm... did the songs suddenly sound different once it was discovered that others sang them?

[XCITIZEN]

Hey joelaf, I love your comment and I love your perspective - getting duped once in a while by a pop-culture hoax is good for the character. :) Image in we had never heard of 'The McCain Girls?"