Oprah Is Unfairly Getting Roasted For Her Response To A Fan

Buzzfeed News - The clip was shared to TikTok over the weekend, and it shows someone approaching Oprah and asking for a holiday gift idea for their mom who is “not doing well.” Even though she appeared to be on her way somewhere, Oprah graciously took the time to answer the fan. “A wonderful thing is that jewelry box that I had on ‘Favorite Things,’” she said after some thought. “A beautiful red jewelry box with a little—” “That’s too expensive for me,” the person holding the camera interjects.  “It’s not,” Oprah argues, shaking her head. “It’s really not, it’s like 100-and-something dollars.” “A little lower in my price budget,” the person says. At this point, Oprah seemingly can’t hide her shock as she responds: “Lower than $100?” with an amused smile on her face.


Oh Oprah. Oprah, Oprah, Oprah. Just absolutely stunned someone's budget could be lower than $100. You would think someone just told her the world ends tomorrow by how stunned she was. And as is tradition Tik Tok commenters feasted on her response. 

I think these comments are unfair. First off Oprah provided a gift unprompted that was within a reasonable budget. $100 isn't an outlandish response. If the man asked for gift ideas and Oprah replied with "Get her a high end watch designed for males but is so nice a woman would love it (https://brickwatchcompany.com/) " , or "take her to Bali for a week", or "get her a vintage Mercedes" it would be very clear she was completely out of touch. Instead Oprah provided a reasonably priced item. 

Did Oprah have a bit of a shocked face when she learned the man's budget? Sure. However she didn't scold him, she didn't mock him, she simply confirmed that was the man's budget. She took a second to realize what he was saying and then adjusted to give him a gift THAT DOESN'T COST A DIME. She gave the man an idea that would show he was caring while showing his mother he valued her, and not taking a dime out of his pocket. Yet somehow the internet spun this that Oprah was shaming the man. Very bizarre take, especially considering Oprah provides boatloads of money to charities, and was raised poor herself. 

Goes to show even people like Oprah can't please everyone. Big credit to the original poster of this Tik Tok who didn't lose sight of the real message that Oprah had a great attitude but shame on the commenters. 

 

 

PS: Reminded me of this classic scene.