News | Entertainment
15 Sep 2025 23:42
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Oprah Winfrey fought back tears as she recalled her painful relationship with her mother

    The media mogul was not close with her mom Vernita Lee - who gave birth to Oprah when she was a teenager and died in 2018 at age 83 - and she's now admitted she struggled to say anything positive about her when she was asked to say a few words at a church event


    During an episode of 'The Oprah Podcast', the TV titan was on the verge of tears as she explained her complication relationship with her mother. She said: "I had been asked to come to church to give all these accolades about my mother. It was important for her to be seen as religious in the community ...

    "And I couldn't think of one thing."

    Oprah went on to say: "I was like, 'Oh my God, I don't have one memory'. And so, when it came time for me to speak, I thought, 'Well what do I actually have to be grateful for?' She didn't abort me. She did the best that she knew."

    She added: "The best that she knew was not enough to feed what I needed, was not enough to make me feel whole, was not enough to make me feel valued or seen or important to her.

    "It was not. But it was the best that she could do, and I gave up the hope that it could have been anything other than what she had."

    Oprah previously admitted she struggled to find the right words to talk to her mother when she was nearing the end of her life back in 2018.

    She told PEOPLE magazine: "In hospice care they have a little book about the little conversations. I thought, "Isn't this strange? I am Oprah Winfrey, and I'm reading a hospice care book on what to say at the end' ...

    "She's sitting in this little room - she loves sitting in this room where it's 80 degrees. She just watches TV all day.

    "What I said was, 'Thank you. Thank you, because I know it's been hard for you. It was hard for you as a young girl having a baby, in Mississippi.

    "No education. No training. No skills. Seventeen, you get pregnant with this baby. Lots of people would have told you to give that baby away.

    "Lots of people would've told you to abort that baby. You didn't do that. I know that was hard. I want you to know that no matter what, I know that you always did the best you knew how to do. And look how it turned out'."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     15 Sep: Brooke Hogan has insisted it was "no surprise" she was left out of Hulk Hogan's will
     15 Sep: George Clooney is deeply worried about his children being exposed to social media
     15 Sep: Frankie Muniz turned down hosting Saturday Night Live so he could meet his childhood crush Amanda Bynes
     15 Sep: Jessica Chastain's negotiation classes have given her a new outlook on life
     15 Sep: Dua Lipa and Callum Turner are reportedly looking to buy a holiday home together
     15 Sep: Lindsay Arnold was banned from weighing herself as a child
     15 Sep: Sir Elton John feels "so proud" of Watford Football Club
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Confirmation of yet another blow at halfback for the embattled All Blacks More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Clients and subscribers of former financial adviser David McEwen are being urged to check their bank statements for unauthorised payments More...



     Today's News

    Soccer:
    The Phoenix have signed Dan Edwards to his first fully-professional football contract 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Brooke Hogan has insisted it was "no surprise" she was left out of Hulk Hogan's will 21:31

    Rugby:
    Confirmation of yet another blow at halfback for the embattled All Blacks 21:17

    International:
    How much fish is in tinned tuna, and how to shop for your needs 21:07

    Entertainment:
    George Clooney is deeply worried about his children being exposed to social media 21:01

    Entertainment:
    Frankie Muniz turned down hosting Saturday Night Live so he could meet his childhood crush Amanda Bynes 20:31

    Entertainment:
    Jessica Chastain's negotiation classes have given her a new outlook on life 20:01

    Entertainment:
    Dua Lipa and Callum Turner are reportedly looking to buy a holiday home together 19:31

    Entertainment:
    Lindsay Arnold was banned from weighing herself as a child 19:01

    Netball:
    Interim Silver Ferns coach Yvette McCausland-Durie has named a squad of 14 ahead of Sunday's first test of their home series against South Africa 18:57


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd