Winfrey 'Furious' at Snubbing Allegations

[fortyfeetunder]

http://www.diversityinc.com/public/16916.cfm

Oprah Winfrey said she is "furious" at allegations that her absence at the recent funeral for Ebony and Jet magazines founder John H. Johnson was a snub of the pioneering black publisher.

A column published Thursday in the Chicago Defender, a historically significant black daily newspaper, questioned why Winfrey didn't attend Johnson's Aug. 15 funeral in her hometown of Chicago. Former President Bill Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and many notable black media personalities attended the service.

Chicago Defender Executive Editor Roland Martin wrote that many black media figures have been lamenting Winfrey's "apparent snub of the man who single-handedly made it possible for people like Oprah to launch their own magazines and media companies." In another column published Friday, Martin recounted a tense phone conversation he had with Winfrey on Thursday. "I am furious at the allegations because it's just not true," Martin quoted Winfrey as saying in his column. "It's not true and it's unfair."

Winfrey said she was in Hawaii when Johnson died and was unable to make it back for the services, according to Martin's column. Johnson died of heart failure Aug. 8 at the age of 87...."


I think this much ado about nothing. I think Winfrey did the right thing. She had send condolences to the Johnson family. I think had she been present by breaking from her trip, she probably felt like a distraction to the gravity of this memorial service. I've been in her shoes....

If anything they should be hollering at * for not being there....