Is the philanthropist and overall queen of good vibes Oprah Winfrey a closet racist snob? The revelations from Winfrey's estranged mother-in-law published on Daily Mail seemed to have suggested so.
Barbara Winfrey, whose husband Vernon is the father of Oprah, is speaking out to the UK tabloid following the media mogul's eviction notice from the home she used to share with the Winfrey patriarch. She said she has been told to vacate the $1.4 million Nashville home she has been living with her husband throughout their 14-year union on or before May 29. The two had divorced allegedly because of the Winfrey patriarch's philandering ways.
Barbara said to the tabloid, "I have lost everything. It's not just a house, this is my home. All my memories are here. I'm trying to keep it together but there are some days I just don't understand how I could have made her so angry that she would kick me out on the street and think nothing about it. But that's Oprah - she's judge and jury."
USA Today said that a judge had recommended that Barbara will be given 60 days to vacate the home the television star had acquired through a company of hers. The home, which was reportedly given by Oprah to her father and her former stepmother following their marriage, had been kept in the media mogul's limited liability company Overground Railroad. Oprah supposedly offered Barbara another home for free under the terms that the latter would be signing a confidentiality agreement.
Barbara obviously had chosen not to take Oprah's offer, and opted to do a tell-all. She also claimed that the fight with Oprah became personal when the latter's company also bought Barbara's old home, of which she insisted the media mogul had schemed to acquire it along with the barbershop her ex-husband had owned. Barbara's daughter and grandchild, who lived in her own home, were allegedly told to vacate the premises as well.
Barbara, who went on with her claims to MailOnline about Oprah, said that she had bore the brunt of her former stepdaughter's controlling and cruel machinations. She also stated that Oprah had never established a good relationship with her father, and had on many occassions shielded him and her from opportunities to meet some of her friends or pay visits to one of her many properties. Barbara also recalled the many instances Oprah reminded her and her father of their low class, considering that the media mogul too, came from humble beginnings.
"(When Vernon and I paid a visit to her Chicago condo), Oprah got on the intercom and announced, 'Negroes in the house. Negroes in the house.' She thought it was funny. I thought it was insulting. I'm older than her. I know what it means. She was reminding us of our low class."
It is not clear whether Daily Mail had attempted to contact Winfrey about Barbara's allegations.
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