Oprah_ A Biography - Kitty Kelley [208]
“I wrote a piece on ‘The 100 Most Powerful Women in Chicago,’ and of course Oprah was named number one,” said Cheryl L. Reed, former editorial page editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I called Harpo, but she wouldn’t give us an interview. I tried everything—phone calls, letters, emails, even flowers—but her publicist said she was too busy. Finally I asked if I might send some questions for her to answer. What came back to me was a bunch of regurgitated junk that had been printed a million times before. So I called back and asked, ‘Why did you send answers that are computer-generated and published in previous interviews?’
“ ‘Well, Miss Winfrey says she is always asked the same questions and so she has put together answers that represent her thoughts on various subjects, and that’s what she has to say in response to your questions.’
“ ‘I thought you said that my questions would be put before her and she would answer them.’
“ ‘I’m very sorry. That’s how Miss Winfrey prefers to respond.’ ”
Reporters from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago magazine ran into the same stone wall at Harpo. Only the gossip columnists thrived, because they dutifully printed items fed to them by Oprah’s publicists about Oprah’s charitable good works, the celebrities coming to town for Oprah’s shows, and Oprah’s splendid trips for her employees. To their credit, the city’s reporters did not allow personal pique to surface in their stories, and while gossip columnists such as Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times and WBBM-TV acknowledged that Oprah had “become impossible to deal with,” he said her continuing presence in the city was a boon to Chicago.
“It was after the Raleigh lawsuit that she slammed the door on everyone,” said Robert Feder. “She felt her employees would sell her out and she became paranoid and even more controlling, forcing people to sign contracts that tied them in knots forever.”
Feder did not exaggerate. Oprah made all her employees, even those on probation for the first thirty days, sign confidentiality agreements that bound them to the grave. The contracts read, in part:
1. During your employment or business relationship with Harpo, and thereafter, to the fullest extent permitted by law, you are obligated to keep confidential and never disclose, use, misappropriate, or confirm or deny the veracity of any statement or comment concerning Oprah Winfrey, Harpo (which, as used herein, included all entities related to Harpo, Inc., including Harpo Productions, Inc., Harpo Films, Inc.) or any of her/its Confidential Information. The phrase “Confidential Information” as used in this policy, includes but is not limited to, any and all information which is not generally known to the public, related to or concerning: (a) Ms. Winfrey and/or her business or private life; (b) the business activities, dealings or interests of Harpo and/or its officers, directors, affiliates, employees or contractors; and/or (c) Harpo’s employment practices or policies applicable to its employees and/or contractors.
2. During your employment or business relationship with Harpo, and thereafter, you are obligated to refrain from giving or participating in any interview(s) regarding or related to Ms. Winfrey, Harpo, your employment or business relationship with Harpo and/or any matter which concerns, relates to or involves any Confidential Information.
Most former employees admit that fear enforces Oprah’s contract, even for those who have been out of her employ for years. “All you need to know is her net worth [$2.7 billion in 2009], which can buy more lawyers than anyone can afford,” said one former producer. “That, plus Elizabeth Coady.”
The Coady case is known to all Harpo employees. “I was producing shows, conceiving shows, supervising a team of other assistant producers, coming up with guest ideas, doing research on guests and topics,” said Coady, former senior associate producer who worked for Oprah for four years. She resigned in 1998