Oprah Winfrey recalls former Tonight Show host Joan Rivers’ comments about her weight “on national television”

Oprah Winfrey recalled being body-shamed by the late Tonight Show host Joan Rivers during her first appearance on the show in 1985. Speaking on The Jamie Kern Lima podcast on June 25, 2024, the 70-year-old television personality and actress talked about Rivers questioning her weight "on national television" while adding that she needed to lose 15 pounds.

“Joan Rivers turns to me and she says ‘Tell me why are you so fat?' On national television and I don’t know what to do with that. I just did, like, ’Oh, I just love potato chips, Joan,’ ” Winfrey said about the incident.

Oprah Winfrey added that, at the time, she accepted that she "should be shamed" by Rivers' comments. She also agreed with the late TV host that she should lose 15 pounds before returning to The Tonight Show, which she tried to do by going to health retreats, called "fat farms" at the time.

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Oprah Winfrey previously spoke about being body-shamed by Joan Rivers in her cookbook

This is not the first time Oprah Winfrey opened up about Joan Rivers commenting on her weight on national television. According to People Magazine, Winfrey elaborated on the incident in her 2017 cookbook, Food, Health and Happiness.

Winfrey made her debut on The Tonight Show in 1985, fresh off of hosting her popular show AM Chicago. Joan Rivers, known for her sharp tongue, seemingly did not hold back as she questioned Winfrey about her weight on national television.

“It was all going smoothly; I was starting to settle in. And then it happened: Joan interrupted with perhaps the only question I hadn’t prepared for: ‘So how’d you gain the weight?’ Wait a minute — did she just use my national television debut to ask me why I was so fat? The studio started spinning. The word fat…fat…faaaaatttttt reverberated in my brain,” Winfrey wrote in her cookbook.

Oprah Winfrey also documented her shame on being questioned about her weight, writing about wanting to "crawl under" her chair during the interview.

On her arrival in Chicago, Winfrey added she tried every diet possible to shed weight, but they all seemed to be a temporary fix. In her cookbook, she also explored her relationship with food, adding she often turned to food for comfort growing up as a child who lacked love at home.

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"You lose a pound, you could lose this part" — Oprah Winfrey on Steven Spielberg casting her for The Color Purple

In the same interview with Jamie Kern Lima, who co-founded IT cosmetics, Oprah Winfrey added that she was very keen on getting the part of Sofia in Steven Speilberg's 1985 flick The Color Purple, but gave up on getting a call back due to her weight.

She elaborated that she had finally "let go" of the part when she got a call from Spielberg, who asked about her stay at "fat farms."

‘"I hear you're at a fat farm. You lose a pound, you could lose this part," Spielberg reportedly said.

The actress and talk show host added that attempting to "let go" of her dream saw her embark on the "greatest life lesson" she received, as she went on to play Sofia in the movie and received an Academy Award nomination for her performance.

“That became my grounding teaching for the rest of my life and career. Do everything you can, work as hard as you can, and then let it go," she said of the experience.

Oprah Winfrey's episode on The Jamie Kern Lima podcast is available on YouTube.