The queen of talk, Oprah Winfrey, reportedly declined a White House invitation last summer for a meeting aimed at helping President Barack Obama sell his signature health care law to the American public.
According to the New York Post, Obama's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett phoned Oprah and asked her to join a handful of other celebrities to meet with the president and discuss how they could generate publicity for his landmark health care program.
The queen of talk reportedly refused.
“All of Oprah’s top people thought she would go, because when the president invites you to the White House, most people automatically say yes,” one of Oprah’s closest advisers reportedly told The Post. “But Oprah said she didn’t have the time or inclination to go."
Oprah Winfrey waves as she speaks during the Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on August 28, 2013. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
"It wasn’t like she had to think it over," the source reportedly added. "It was an immediate, flat-out, unequivocal no.”
Instead, The Post reports Oprah sent a low-level rep in her place, which was reportedly taken as an insult.
According to The Post, Oprah has been at odds with the Obamas for some time now because she feels as if she has been cut out of their inner circle.
“Oprah intended to make her unique White House access a part of her new network,” a source close to Oprah reportedly told The Post. “There were big plans, and a team was put together to come up with proposals that would have been mutually beneficial."
“But none of that ever happened. Oprah sent notes and a rep to talk to Valerie Jarrett, but nothing came of it. It slowly dawned on Oprah that the Obamas had absolutely no intention of keeping their word and bringing her into their confidence," the source reportedly added.
The Post adds that as a result, the queen of talk has "struck back" by banning the Obamas from her media empire.
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