Somethings you just can’t control – like the color of your skin or your sexual preference.
Oprah Winfrey recently revealed that she received backlash after appearing on a 1997 episode of the scripted program Ellen as Ellen Degeneres‘ therapist.
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After the now infamous “puppy episode,” where the now 54-year-old opened up about her sexual orientation, Ellen was blacklisted and many of the stars who appeared on the show got a tremendous amount of backlash.
Oprah told The Hollywood Reporter that after appearing on the show, she received many hateful phone calls and letters. She said:
“It always turns to race. I got all of the, ‘N- – – – -, go back to Africa. Who do you think you are?’ I did it because she asked me to do it and I wanted to support hurt. It didn’t occur to me that there would be backlash.”
Till this day, still in support of her friend’s decision, Oprah said:
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“Being able to be free – literally – and to express herself in a way that she can be 100 percent truthful with the audience has allowed them to fall in love with her.”
“Honest-to-Go truth: I don’t believe she would have been as successful as she has become had she not came out.”
Ellen’s choice to come out has proven to be one of the best decisions ever, despite the hate both Oprah and Ellen had to endure.
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter & TV GUIDE
