On today’s live Oprah Winfrey show, Ms. Winfrey apologized to her audience and to readers of her book club.
“I apologize, I was wrong,” Ms. Winfrey said, about her support of author James Frey. The Smoking Gun released an investigation of disputed facts in Mr. Frey’s memoir, A Million Little Pieces, earlier this month. She also said, “I regret my phone call to Larry King,” referring to her live phone call to the talk show host, in which she blamed the publishing industry for not disclaiming the memoir. “The truth matters,” Ms. Winfrey said, and: “My judgement was clouded.”
Mr. Frey’s publisher, Nan Talese, said on the show that she found the whole experience sad. “It’s not sad for me,” said Ms. Winfrey. “It is embarrassing.”
After a number of disclosures, including his inability to recall whether he had actually experienced the infamous root canal without pain medication that he recounted in his memoir, Mr. Frey said that “there were no other major issues.” No questions were asked about the title character of Mr. Frey’s second memoir, My Friend Leonard.
–Choire Sicha
