If there is one person who singlehandedly captures the attention of just about everyone, it’sOprah Winfrey.
It’s not surprising since her hit talk show and her acting career has made her one to watch.
Oprah has a sense of calm, an approach that makes her unique.
She is undoubtedly a huge success story, but one with many chapters of pain.
Here are the tragic things about Oprah Winfrey everyone just ignores.
And the abuse she faced didn’t stop there.
Oprah continued to be sexually assaulted from ages 10 to 14, as well as beaten regularly.
In fact, she lived in poverty for most of her childhood.
As noted byThe Guardian,Oprah was born in 1954 when her mother was just a teenager.
But the life of a domestic house worker was not what Oprah had in mind.
And defy them she did, because Oprah is now one of the most recognized celebrities in the world.
As noted byThe Guardian,Oprah’s father expected his daughter to pull good grades at school.
Her living circumstances had completely changed, and Oprah was on a very short leash.
Things only got more tragic from there.
Oprah’s pregnancy came to a tragic end when her baby died at two weeks old.
As noted by theChicago Tribune,Oprah’s first gig as a news anchor in Baltimore, Md.
didn’t go well.
While reporting a story about a house fire that turned deadly, Oprah started crying on air.
In the span of one news hour, Oprah said “Canada” wrong three different times.
So what did Oprah do?
She approached her boss about it.
Now you might want to sit down for this next part.
In a shocking turn, her boss asked Oprah if she had children.
He then asked if she owned a home, or had to put children through college.
Oprah said that the blatant sexism was enough for her to say goodbye to the gig.
“I said, ‘Thank you for your time,’ and I left.
I knew that in that moment it was time for me to go,” she said.
A guest of the show toldThe Postthat Oprah started to cry while recounting her experience.
“She said she was involved with a man and she did drugs when she was with him.
When he was gone the drugs were gone,” the guest said.
“It was weird.
I just saw this woman I’ve admired so much.
And she’s been where I’ve been and she pulled out of it.”
Lloyd’s death was a tragic end to a sibling relationship that never really blossomed into anything positive.
Oprah also suffered the loss of her half-brother, Jeffrey, who died in 1989 from AIDS.
The associate said yes, and Oprah made her way back over.
But still the store workers refused to initiate the doors.
“We had seen these two white women go in the store,” Oprah said about the incident.
As compensation, the store offered to give Oprah the sweater for free.
“Keep the sweater.”
“One of my assistants said, ‘The Daily Newsis calling.
They say they heard your father is writing a book about you.’
I said, ‘That’s impossible.
I can assure them it’s not true,'” Oprah recounted.
“I called him and it turned out he is writing a book.
“I was upset.
I won’t say ‘devastated,’ but I was stunned.”
“I thought, ‘Isn’t this strange?”
Oprah soon returned to her mother’s room for one last talk.
The one thing that helped Oprah through such a difficult goodbye was music.
“I know that you always did the best you knew how to do.
And look how it turned out,” Oprah told her mom.
The sales associate looked at Oprah and said, “No, it’s too expensive.”
Yep, you read that correctly.
The store’s name Trois Pomme was eventually leaked and the store’s manager came forward with a statement.
We’ll let you make up your mind.
“Why are y’all attackingus?
We your people,” Snoop said, before calling King a nasty name.
Free Bill Cosby.”
That was the tragic, yet life-changing realization that Oprah Winfrey experienced.
“And I thought nothing could surprise me anymore, but let me tell you I was wrong.”
Oprah said that the news left her “speechless.”
