Oprah Winfrey reveals appalling way she was body-shamed by Joan Rivers on live TV

Oprah Winfrey remembered being horrified when Joan Rivers body-shamed her in front of millions on live TV as the journalist was questioning her over her hit TV show in 1985.

One live TV moment has haunted Oprah Winfrey as the A-lister revealed she’d been body-shamed by Joan Rivers.

Speaking out on Monday’s (July 1) instalment of the Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, the TV star and producer recalled how she’d been invited to chat about her then-successful programme, A.M Chicago with Joan on the Tonight Show in 1985.

But in a jaw-dropping moment, the acclaimed presenter focused her attention on Oprah’s silhouette, as the latter remembered: “Joan Rivers turns to me and she says, ‘Tell me, why are you so fat?’”

With her weight called out on national television, Oprah admitted she had no clue “what to do with that” and improvised a quick response.

Joan Rivers body-shamed Oprah Winfrey during a live TV exchange in 1985 ( 
Image: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Oprah Winfrey recalled that the segment led her to enrol in a programme to slim down – but Steven Spielberg intervened ( Image: Getty Images for BET)

Oprah continued: “I just [said], like, ‘Oh, I just love potato chips, Joan.’” But this only prompted the late Joan to strike back with: “Shame on you. I’ll let you come back if you lose 15lbs. You need to lose 15lbs.”

Sadly, the talk show host accepted Joan’s behaviour at the time: “I accept[ed] that I should be shamed, because how dare me, be sitting up here on The Tonight Show.”

Oprah promised Joan she would shed a few pounds for her – but she never fulfilled that promise. “Of course, I didn’t lose the 15lbs. I went and ate my way to another 10lbs”, she added. But the encounter did lead her to enrol in a “health retreat.”

That same year, however, Oprah starred in the Steven Spielberg film The Color Purple, based on the book of the same name by Alice Walker.

Oprah went on to star in the film, appearing as a character named Sophia, and she even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Looking back on her experience, Oprah added: “The fact that it happened in the instant I’d known I’d let it go was the greatest life lesson I have ever received. Do everything you can, work as hard as you can, and then let it go.”