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

[Tommygun264]

What is the bombshell here? A con man used Oprah to enrich himself at her expense and once she realized she had been used, she turned the tables and made the best out of what could have been a career ending disaster by pulling the con man back in and beating him at his own game. I have no sympathy for Mr. Frey or his publisher, who was either corrupt, incompetent, or both; and nothing but the greatest respect for (and a little fear of) Oprah. Now if she would just trick Dr. Phil into confessing he's full of crap and apologize to us for bringing him to power, Oprah Winfrey could be the first female African-American President of the United States.

[pollster08]

I don't see Oprah saying 'I know it's rough. It's just business'. When I read that....I knew it was a lie.

[Counterglow]

I'm no Opera fan, but given her track record versus that of the proven liar and profit-motivated enabler who claim she deceived them...I'm pretty confident about who's telling the truth here.

[JUNIORSBOX]

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 !

[petecook5]

The dude wrote a good book. Does that fact that it isn't all true mean it's less good? No. It means they filed it in the wrong section in the library. Oprah just got her big fat ego bruised and decided to tear this guy apart on tv. He should have just walked off the set.

[realpolitic]

He should have just said some parts are fictionalized and then refused to identify which ones out of artistic license.

[robbor]

i'm afraid everyone's gonna have to let this one go...it's way too weird. frey can spin a great yarn and if i were he i'd change my nom de plume, move to arkansas and write romance novels.

do it dude!

[NicoleAnonymous]

on the topic of true memoirs can someone write about a company they worked for doing bad things without being sued for slander or is that protected by free speech?

Why can an investigative reporter write about companies without being sued but a former employee can't write about their experience because the publisher is too worried about the company suing them?

[mcbsailor]

I ceased watching Oprah after this incident, and VF's revelations prove that decision to be sound. James Frey's judgment is and was at best flawed, but it should be no secret to anyone who's read the book, met or seen Frey interviewed that he's at best a confused and lost soul. The interview was a sickeningly merciless attack by an icon with the entire audience to root for her, against a schmoe who we now know (although obvious at the time) was duped into believing the interview would not be an assault. Oprah essentially knocked the guy down and then kicked the crap out of him with her fancy shoes, knowing the audience would cheer her attack. Were this a guy who had demonstrated a sound mind, I would not have been as horrified, but Oprah was relentless and needlessly cruel, before a group of people who clamor to attend her shows to score whatever payola Oprah's offering that day. I'm not defending Frey's judgment in telling his stories, or the book itself (however riveting), but Oprah showed no spiritual mercy (something she constantly crows that she has in abundance!) for a guy who was clearly out of her league in terms of being a public persona, and took sadistic pleasure in shaming him in front of the however many millions of viewers. She and her minions can deny VF's article till the cows come home -- anyone who saw the show will know what's true. A pathetic spectacle.

[observing]

Oprah believes she is holy that is why she was doing God's work when she beat up Frey.

[TrollsTakeYourMedstoo]

I totally agree with you. I watched his face during the unrelenting attack. I was hoping that there was no means backstage of him ending his life, because his facial expression certainly looked at though he was considering it. It was clear that he is a fragile and troubled young man, and she was brutal to him.

[carex]

I have not watched anything Oprah has done since I watched just part of the program with James Frey and NanTalese. It is not possible to convey how painful it was to watch these two who seemed clearly
unprepared for the barage they recieved from Oprah. While mistakes and misrepresentations did take place on the part of Mr. Frey and perhaps even Mrs. Talese, they were well publicized and whatever recriminations for their actions surely would have been metted out by the public in either reading or boycotting Mr. Freys' future works.

What I felt Ms. Winfrey missed in her apparent rage was the fact that wether the book in question was biography or fiction it was, and is, an amazingly good book.

There are many ways to met revenge. Ms. Winfrey is a powerful person and brand, but has no inherent right to cause such a public flogging. Her couch is not our town square. Her manners, demeanor, and
sense of self entitlement were embarrassing and shameful to watch. I am sure she lost many loyal viewers and fans that day. I will never return. In support, I will purchase everything Mr. Frey chooses to publish, as he is a gifted writer.

[sickofhypocrisy]

I stopped watching Oprah after she dressed him down so hideously on that show. She's way too sanctimonious for my taste. It's probably why she hearts Obama so much.

[dattexas]

Yeah, how dare she call out someone who wrote an autobiography full of lies. She should be like you - protector of the dishonest.

[meanguy]

have you read the bull-sheep in obama's 'memoirs?'

[NicoleAnonymous]

Some of the people on HP are really crazy or they have a completely different outlook on life than me. They defend spoiled brats throwing pies at people, they don't understand the difference between Eli Weisel forgetting which book he read in a concentration camp and a woman who lied about being Jewish and being raised by animals in a forest, they don't think the truth is important in a memoir and anyone who does is "too uptight! just lighten up a little!" and lying in order to sell books isn't bad.

I think people like that are really self-absorbed and have an entitlement complex.

"There aren't any rules for us! We make our own rules and do anything we want! We don't have to be honest if we don't want to! That isn't fun! We can throw pies at people if we don't like them!"

I thought people grow out of that stage once they're about 3 years old.

[NicoleAnonymous]

According to you it doesn't matter if a memoir is true or not and anyone who thinks the truth is important is self-righteous and sanctimonious.

So you don't mind what Margaret Seltzer did? So what if she was a white women with a private education who claimed to have grown up with gangs? The truth isn't important! Everyone is so uptight about these things! Grow up!

And so what if a woman claims she spent the Holocaust being raised by animals in the forest because she was hiding from Nazis but it turns out to all be a lie! It was a darn good story! I was entertained by it!

I'm just about to write my life story - I was thrown out of the house when I 3 by my parents and raised by bears in the forest and they taught me to read and write and everything and I even applied to Harvard and was accepted but before I went there I spent a few years in the middle east fighting in Syria as a double agent and hanging out with Kings and stuff! I hope everyone buys my book!

[Wanjiru]

"She's way too sanctimonious for my taste. It's probably why she hearts Obama so much."
-------------------------------------------

...I agree that Oprah can be super-sanctimonious and holier-than-thou...a big turn-off...

...I disagree that the same applies to Sen. Obama...

...quite to the contrary, a good part of Sen. Obama's appeal is the fact that he shows us that he, just like the rest of us, can be vulnerable and make mistakes...but he RECOGNIZES those mistakes and makes the necessary amends for them...he shows us that he is NOT PERFECT...

...I wish I could say the same for Oprah, but even more importantly...I wish I could say the same for HRC!...


Obama 2008!


.

[londubh]

I think it's safe to say that Frey's credibility is in a million little pieces.

[CaptainHowdy]

Yeah, so what? So the book is "loosely" based on his real life experience instead of being the absolute truth. Does that suddenly make the book less well written?

[londubh]

That's not the point. If Oprah is outraged, I'm outraged. It's all about the O. Well, not really. I'm not likely to read the book or even investigate it much further, but based on the scant info that I have available. He put it forth as absolute truth than as a work of fiction. You can have truth in fiction, my friend, but you cannot have fiction in your truth.

[peachfuzz]

I can't get into this whole cult/club thing.

[scorpioleidy]

OMG???!!! You don't say---the Big O is a liar??? Really, now are you surprised; her whole life is a lie!!! Everyone thinks Gayle is her best friend (wink-wink) ... she's really her girlfriend!!! People, don't be stupid---Oprah is very capable of lying, so don't be shocked by this!

[busybeez]

That is so offensive and ugly. It is possible for women to be best friends and not be lovers. I have been blessed with such best friends in my life, and Oprah and Gayle's relationship is very similar in connection and tone, it is also very much like my relationship with my sisters. I have watched Oprah and Gayle since the show first began, they have a very good friendship and are family to each other, nothing else. I wish for you to find such a great friend!

[Igglesbee]

Grow up. You're showing your ignorance and offending many people with your thoughtless ranting.

[gnostic19]

Two people don't lie...The President of the United States of America and Oprah. Oh, and the Pope.

[Emman]

"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" says Oprah. Hmmmmm, how about the books Obama wrote that's fraught with inaccuracies? Ms Oprah Winfrey ( the paragon of virtue) why did you not feel taken or lied to when you discovered Obama lied, about the supposedly LIFE magazine story (which had a white man who painted his face black to explore what it means to be black) that changed his life; this is one out many other inaccuracies. Oh I forgot, James Frey is a white man!! Frey needs to be humiliated but Obama, he's beyond reproach. I guess it's 'cause he's a black man.
I think it's high time America start seeing Oprah for what she is....HYPOCRITICAL CLOSET RACIST! Enough with this media image decoration of Oprah and Obama; Americans have been fooled enough. For the light of the foregoing, "what's good for the goose is good for the gander".
(Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! before anyone start thinking I'm a bitter white man, oh no, I'm a black woman.)

[stepintothelight]

Dude ... Get a life!!! There is more to reality than your obsession with the evil black man who has the nerve to try to achieve something your small mind can't grasp. For you to turn this into a racial issue only shows how little of a man you are. Just another "poor white unfairly treated me"!!! YO Jesus ... get off of the cross ... we need the wood!!!

[busybeez]

I agree. All this calling black people racists makes me sick. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and anybody of a certain age with a good conscience would recognize "racist" is just a new name to downgrade black people. I've heard black people called many ugly, ignorant things in my life, and for white people to label black people as "racist " is embarrassingly shameless. "We are one people. We are Americans."

[anthonylee]

A black woman that supports Hillary I presume? (Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! before someone calls you a chicken head, sell-out, mamee or "wanna be")

[ghostofgrrrl]

so I take it we can put Mr. Frey in the Clinton column?

so many people throwing so many others under so many buses --

[Robert59]

And James Frey wants us to pity him. He deserved the raking he got and worse. He's a phoney who wrote a fictional story with him as the central character chronicling his fake drug addiction.

Fraudsters like him should be in jail.

[BatedBreath]

He's using a trick from theclintons' hat: blame others for your own weaknesses.

[sickofhypocrisy]

HAHAHAHA - Obama invented that trick. You guys turn EVERYTHING into a Clinton debacle.

[writeaway]

He sold a bejillion books because Oprah gave her imprimatur. Perhaps a little more staff work would have exposed the book for what it was. She initially resisted telling the truth still the stink got too much for her to bear. It was just business.