◼ Oprah Winfrey downright refused an invitation to the White House and the opportunity to join a host of celebrities to sell Obamacare over the summer, sources told the New York Post. - Jessica Chasmar/Washington Times
“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,” said one of Miss Winfrey’s top advisers. “But Oprah said she didn’t have the time or inclination to go. It wasn’t like she had to think it over. It was an immediate, flat-out, unequivocal no.”
Miss Winfrey ended up sending a low-level representative from one of her talent agencies to meet the president, which he regarded as a insult, the Post reported....
Miss Winfrey campaigned extensively for Mr. Obama in 2008, but apparently he never returned the favor of allowing the media titan unique access to the White House if he won.
“Oprah intended to make her unique White House access a part of her new network [OWN],” a source close to her 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.”
...“Oprah was hoping there would be a genuine change in the atmospherics,” one of her friends told me. “But there hasn’t been. Clearly, she is being rebuffed at the level of Michelle and Valerie. And, just as obviously, President Obama hasn’t interfered on Oprah’s behalf.”
An adviser told the Post that Miss Winfrey also butts heads with first lady Michelle Obama, and it’s unlikely the media mogul will reconcile with the first family.
