Stop blaming Oprah Winfrey for Dr. Oz
What Oprah did that "America's Next Top Model" creator Tyra Banks did not do
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The first time I saw a political ad blaming the famous bookworm, multi-millionaire, actress and talk show host, I ignored it. Then came a string of social media posts about the same woman, Oprah Winfrey. And all I could think was, “I read the same magazines, watched the same episodes and read some of the same health tips. My bookshelf may look a lot like yours with Oprah Magazine book collections. Yet I never paid an iota of attention to Oprah Winfrey’s past recommendations of Dr. Oz. You could have ignored him too.”
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Celeb recommendations aren’t mandatory likes for you
Fat Joe introduced the world to Big Pun, who went on to introduce hip-hop fans to Remy Ma. Nowadays, I like a bunch of Remy Ma songs but never got into Big Pun or Fat Joe (and definitely don’t understood him buying Trump’s golden shoes).
And in spite of his Emmett Till lyric and support for Donald Trump, there are a handful of Lil Wayne songs I still blast in my headphones now. Meanwhile, I have never been a fan of Young Money artist Nicki Minaj.
These are more examples of celebrities introducing then-lesser-known people, and we all had the option to decide to enjoy the offerings of the next person. Some did. Some didn’t.
So, in my opinion, blaming Oprah Winfrey for Dr. Oz’s affiliation to Trump makes as much sense as blaming Lil Wayne fans or Barbz for Nicki Minaj’s convenient (and peculiar) gushing over the worst president (Trump) in my lifetime. Even Rep. Jasmine Crockett danced to a promotional video with Nicki Minaj music playing in the background before having to explain why she thinks the Trinidadian’s fandom has more to do with “papers.” You live and you learn.
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Enjoying someone’s artistry or health tips for a bit does not mean you become their involuntary spokesperson for eternity. And I've watched this backlash happen far too often with Black celebrities specifically, including Chicagoans blaming former President Barack Obama for the antics of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
It's as if people think Crockett, Obama and Winfrey all became Miss Cleo and could predict the future. For the same reasons “America's Next Top Model” viewers didn't realize Tyra Banks and producer Ken Mok would act like sociopaths on “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model,” contestants, viewers and voters can be wrong sometimes. We may be too distracted looking at the loud-mouthed Janice Dickinsons of the world to realize we should be looking at the sneakier, quieter types.