CEOInterviews.AIOprah Winfrey | Full Episode

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Ellen DeGeneres0:00

All right, have a seat. Okay. Yeah, I don't blame you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Have a seat. And oh boy, I know. I know. And I say right back at you.

Ah, no. Don't add to it. Oh boy, it's exciting. I'm glad you're here. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know if you've been looking forward to today, but I've been looking forward to today because Oprah is here. Oprah!

I'll tell you, oh man, I have been so looking forward to this. It's like, you know, when you're having a house guest and you know they're coming, but it's Oprah and I just want her to have a good time and I want her to feel at home. So immediately I went out and I bought a bigger studio and everything, I want it to be extra special. So what I did is I got here today. I buffed, I polished, I waxed, and then when I was done with my legs, I started on this. Then I worked on this.

Oh, what I've been doing is cleaning a lot. You want to clean house when you have a guest. I'm good at home. And what I do is I vacuum. I'm very busy vacuuming because when I vacuum, what I like to do, and I think other people do, you vacuum in lines to leave purposely the lines so that people can see that I vacuumed and then I leave the vacuum in the corner just to drive the point home. Just, I clean for you. Look, there's a vacuum. And I wash the floor in the guest bathroom. And which is hard to do because when you're, you have to kind of back yourself out or else you have footprints all over. So what I do is I harness myself to the shower curtain rod like Tom Cruise swinging back and forth in Mission Impossible and I'm just low to the ground to scrub like that. Wear the whole outfit and all.

Also, I thought it'd be nice to have an issue of O Magazine just sitting on the coffee table, you know. So, but I thought one that looks like I just went out and bought it. And so I got every O magazine that's ever been made and I glued them together and I made a guest house. And I just want her to have a positive experience here. Because she's my friend and she's an inspiration and she's my competition. She's my friend's petition. And so I wrote a poem for her. I hope I remember it. Roses are red, violets are blue, marigolds are gold, lilies are white, irises are also blue. Tulips come in a variety of colors. I'm so happy you're here and this dance is for you. Heat.

Oh. All right. Oh, that was extra special dancing. First of all, let me clarify it's Oprah Winfrey. Not just an Oprah, but Oprah Winfrey. So, and I can tell you put in some extra moves today because Oprah's here. I saw some of you getting a little fancy out there. You look fantastic. And some of you look familiar. Look.

I'll tell you, I've said it before and I'll say it again. My audience is so fantastic and not only do you dance here in the studio, a lot of emails say that you dance at home. And I love getting your emails. I really do. I appreciate it so much and that's why I take the time to answer them in a segment called...

Ashley Hall from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Dear Ellen, can you in your infinite powers get Empire Carpet to stop constantly showing their commercials? They're annoying and it ruins my enjoyment of your show. Thanks, Ashley. I know what you're talking about. That song, that 800-582-3000 Empire. Every time I hear that 800-582-3000 Empire, I get upset too. So you know what I'm going to do about it? I'll tell you. I'm sorry Mary, I'm talking. What? Oh, we have to go to break now. I'll tell you right after this.

And we're back. All right, here's the next one. Kathy Davis from Whitsett, North Carolina. Hi, Ellen. I watch your show every day and I get really upset when I see your giveaways and I know I'll never be there to receive one. I just saw your Valentine show where you gave away a golden diamond necklace. I would really love to have one or any gift that you could send me. If you could send me something, I'd really cherish it forever just knowing it came from you. I'm sorry you get upset when you see the giveaways. The necklace, I keep it here whenever. This is where I keep my jewelry. But I'm sorry that you get upset because I try to give it away to the home viewers, but then watch what happens when I do... I can't. But you know what I'll do? I also keep a crowbar right here just in case. Well, I don't know why we need... Everybody knows my name. Why do I need a sign right here? I can just... there. All right. I'll send you this. All right. Take a Pro. Yeah. All right. And I'll send you the diamond necklace, too. I'll do that. So, you'll get the diamond necklace as well.

Lynn Williams from Scranton, Pennsylvania says, 'Dear Ellen, your show is amazing. One thing, you know how sometimes you pull things from behind your chair to trick people into not seeing them?' Well, just to let you know, we can see everything behind your chair, so you might want to move your chair so we can't see anything and we can be more surprised. Lynn, thanks for pointing that out. I appreciate it. I don't know honestly how you could be seeing what's behind my chair or looking at what the good stuff is because the good stuff's sitting in it. And also, I doubt you can see everything. I mean, I have... You probably have no idea that I keep, for instance, just in case, like a little tiny baby doll back here. You don't know that that's right there. You have no idea that I keep my wig back here that just in case I need to put a wig on. You have no idea that there's a cowboy hat. You have no idea that that's there. And you have no idea that Donnie Osmond is sitting back here.

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Donnie Osmond10:56

I agreed to come be on the show today. I didn't agree to... I'm dying back here.

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Ellen DeGeneres11:01

I know that was a long time. That was a long time. Good. How are you? Nice to see you. All right. Yeah. What are we doing? I'm a little bit country. I'm biting. Thanks, Donnie. We'll be right back with Oprah Winfrey. All right.

Our first guest is one of the most influential people in the world. She's a talk show host, an entrepreneur, most importantly a humanitarian. Please welcome Oprah Winfrey.

You lose it.

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Oprah Winfrey12:21

I don't know. You lost something.

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Ellen DeGeneres12:23

An earring fell. It's okay.

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Oprah Winfrey12:24

An earring. That's all right. We'll get it. She's got more. It's all right. We'll get it.

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Ellen DeGeneres12:28

This, to me, I've wanted you on the show obviously for so long and this is the first time I did your show. I don't know if I talked to you about this since then, but I literally thought, and I had done Carson and I had done a bunch of things, I was wearing a mic and I thought it was going to pick up my heartbeat. I was so excited to be on your show that I was scared to death that the heartbeat would come through, you know, boom boom boom as I walked out. But may I just say, you're doing such a great job. I feel like the mother of all talk shows, but you are doing such a marvelous job.

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Oprah Winfrey12:59

Oh, thank you. Thank you. I'm so proud of you.

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Ellen DeGeneres13:02

Thank you. So proud of you.

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Oprah Winfrey13:03

Thank you. So proud of you.

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Ellen DeGeneres13:07

I aspire to... You have fun every day and you keep it clean.

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Oprah Winfrey13:12

Yeah. Yeah, I do. You know, and it's a challenge as you know. I mean, you've done it for so long to keep it fresh every single day. It's a lot of stuff. But when I was on your show, I was so impressed and I wanted to show my appreciation. And I remember you asked me like, 'What is the first thing you spent money on when you start making money?' And you said that you love really nice towels.

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Ellen DeGeneres13:32

Towels. Yes.

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Oprah Winfrey13:33

So I...

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Ellen DeGeneres13:34

You sent me some for Christmas. Do you remember?

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Oprah Winfrey13:36

Yes, of course.

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Ellen DeGeneres13:36

Okay. But I sent... because I couldn't believe towels were, you know, and I probably sent you like a $50 towel. I didn't...

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Oprah Winfrey13:42

You sent me... No, you sent me exactly two bath sheets and two regulars.

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Ellen DeGeneres13:46

Yes. Yes. I said, 'How lame is that that I couldn't afford a whole set, so I sent two towels.' But I was like, 'Very appreciated.' Very appreciated.

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Oprah Winfrey13:57

That's good. But I just... that just meant so much to me that, you know, I was on your show.

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Ellen DeGeneres14:02

So, what did you start spending money on?

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Oprah Winfrey14:04

Then, well, now I like cars a lot.

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Ellen DeGeneres14:08

Cars are nice and I like real estate a lot.

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Oprah Winfrey14:10

Real estate's good.

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Ellen DeGeneres14:10

Yeah, we're neighbors.

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Oprah Winfrey14:12

We're neighbors.

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Ellen DeGeneres14:12

Yeah. And you know how I knew you were neighbors? Steedman was at the deli, at the corner deli, and because we live about two blocks from the deli and he said he ran into you and Stedman there. Yeah. And he was there buying some bread or something.

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Oprah Winfrey14:27

He was there, there was a long, long line and he's so tall so you know it looked like he was... Yeah. And he was eating, he was only buying a brownie that big and he was already eating it and I thought Oprah cooked for him. What's wrong with you?

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Ellen DeGeneres14:43

Why don't you cook? Actually I do, but at that particular deli they do a thing called pumpkin bread that you know I'm not good with the bakery stuff.

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Oprah Winfrey14:49

Oh yeah, he loved it. He said he goes there just for that.

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Ellen DeGeneres14:52

Just for that and then he hit on me. And then I said, 'Don't you know?' But anyway. But yeah, you do cook, right?

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Oprah Winfrey15:03

I do cook. I cook for him. That's really the only time I cook. Like yesterday I made... I said to him because we're sitting up there in Santa Barbara, I said you're the only person eating grits and fried fish right now for breakfast. Yeah.

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Ellen DeGeneres15:15

The only person. You know when I first went to the Santa Barbara market looking for grits, they didn't know what I was even talking about. You know, not the place to get grits.

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Oprah Winfrey15:23

And we're both from the south. I know grits. We have a lot in common. I want to give you though, in case I get locked out, my house keys if you could keep them.

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Ellen DeGeneres15:32

Yeah. And if you ever need to get in if I'm not in town, this is to my liquor cabinet right here. And thank you. I will be happy to check on anything. Are the dogs there?

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Oprah Winfrey15:42

The dogs, two dogs and three cats. They're there and full-time. So if anytime, you know, because I have five dogs. Yeah. Maybe they could come over and play and have a play date.

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Ellen DeGeneres15:51

And play dates. Ours go out three days a week on hikes with... Do you go up to that canyon? Do you do the canyon?

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Oprah Winfrey15:55

Oh, I don't. They go by some with someone takes them. But I have done that hike. It's a lovely hike.

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Ellen DeGeneres16:02

That's a lovely hike. Do you do that?

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Oprah Winfrey16:03

That's what we do. That's what we do in that town. We hike. Yeah. I've done it several times, actually. Yeah.

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Ellen DeGeneres16:07

I haven't seen you. I've heard that you're around, but I haven't seen you.

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Oprah Winfrey16:11

The same thing about you. People tell me wherever I go, they say you were there two days earlier.

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Ellen DeGeneres16:14

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I got to wait longer. All right. So, I have a suggestion for you. And you can take it or leave it. It's really just a suggestion. Every month, congratulations, you're on your magazine every month. And so, I think that's a lot of work. It's just too much work.

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Oprah Winfrey16:32

Well, what about if it's... Oh, it's Ellen like I'm... like me and you. Elevator etiquette, some tips for different things.

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Ellen DeGeneres16:45

All right. And then that is kind of cute.

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Oprah Winfrey16:48

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

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Ellen DeGeneres16:49

Do you like my dogs? Aren't they cute, though?

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Oprah Winfrey16:50

They're adorable dogs. They're cuter than ours, so we're not going to put mine on.

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Ellen DeGeneres16:53

Okay. And then... Oh, no. She didn't. That's to sell a bunch, you know. Speaking of that, was it Women's Wear Daily? I saw you all dialed up.

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Oprah Winfrey17:09

Yeah, Women's Wear Daily. It just came out. It's very... Have you showed that to the folks?

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Ellen DeGeneres17:15

They've seen some of it. I don't know if these folks have seen it. I'll show it to... Oh my gosh. You should see them. I'll show it to you. Yeah, that's... I think it comes out here next week or something like that.

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Oprah Winfrey17:27

Wow. Yeah. Look at that.

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Ellen DeGeneres17:30

That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. Who is that?

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Oprah Winfrey17:35

I don't know. I had clothes on though. It looks like I'm naked, but I did have clothes on.

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Ellen DeGeneres17:40

Have you ever smoked an eye like that in real life?

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Oprah Winfrey17:43

No. My mother, we sent her the pictures like we sent her, what do you call it? Through the internet. Yeah. I don't know. And she's like, 'What about those raccoon eyes? Who did that to you?' And I said, 'Mother.' And she goes, 'Well, I'm sure in color it'll look fine.' I said, 'No, it's supposed to be in black and white.' She doesn't understand.

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Ellen DeGeneres18:00

It's not all glammed up. But anyway, these are suggestions. You don't have to. And the keys, I got your rock to hide them under. All right. We're going to take a break. We'll be back with Oprah. Some more Oprah.

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Oprah Winfrey18:10

It's not like I haven't had boyfriends, you know, just because I don't happen to have a boyfriend right now, you know? It's just I'm choosy. What's wrong with me? If I wasn't choosy, I'd be Mrs. Larry Gladstone, wife of my eighth grade boyfriend.

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Ellen DeGeneres18:22

There is nothing wrong with being choosy, Ellen.

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Oprah Winfrey18:25

Right. Exactly. And it's not like I'm looking for perfection, you know? I just want somebody special, somebody, you know, that I click with.

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Ellen DeGeneres18:32

And obviously, you didn't click with Richard. Has there ever been anyone you felt you clicked with? And what was his name?

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Oprah Winfrey18:44

Susan.

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Ellen DeGeneres18:53

I remember that. It seems so... Doesn't it seem like forever?

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Oprah Winfrey18:58

It does.

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Ellen DeGeneres18:59

I have not seen that since that night.

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Oprah Winfrey19:01

I haven't either.

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Ellen DeGeneres19:02

Really?

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Oprah Winfrey19:02

I haven't either. And it was such a huge important time in my life. And you were who I wanted to play.

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Ellen DeGeneres19:08

Yeah. It was you and... it's sad to say that Maya Angelou was my second choice, but she was really... Yeah. Seriously, it was you or Maya? And you said yes, you would do it. I couldn't believe it.

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Oprah Winfrey19:19

So, you didn't have to even ask Maya.

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Ellen DeGeneres19:20

No, I didn't. And now she knows that she was second choice, which is... It's okay. But it's okay. What were you thinking at that time when that show came out? Did you get a lot of heat for that?

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Oprah Winfrey19:31

Oh, god. Yeah. I mean, you know, I got... At first it was a celebration. At first it was really great and then afterwards it was like, you know, I got a lot of heat for that. I got more heat than I've ever gotten to participate in that.

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Ellen DeGeneres19:43

Yes, I did. And did you think you'd get that?

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Oprah Winfrey19:45

No, I really didn't. Yeah. But it was okay because it was, you know, I did it for you and I did it because I believed that I should have done it. So, it didn't really bother me. A lot of people though.

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Ellen DeGeneres19:56

I got more hate mail for that than I've gotten for anything.

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Oprah Winfrey19:59

Wow.

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Ellen DeGeneres20:00

She just said she got more hate mail for that than anything that she's done at that time. Since then, I've gotten more.

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Oprah Winfrey20:06

You pissed people off since then.

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Ellen DeGeneres20:07

But at the time, you know, which was really shocking to me. Why would you write hate mail for that? That's crazy. Well, I thank you for doing it and I'm sorry you got grief for it, but I think it was an important thing for ultimately looking back.

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Oprah Winfrey20:20

Yeah, absolutely. And when you look back, isn't it always interesting to look back at hair?

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Ellen DeGeneres20:23

Yeah.

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Oprah Winfrey20:24

For me, it's hair.

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Ellen DeGeneres20:24

Oh god, it's all... for me it's hair. And I never know what size I'm going to be when a tape comes up. You know, when we roll back a tape, I'm like, 'Oh god, I hope I'm not 200. I hope I'm not over 200 pounds.' So, yeah.

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Oprah Winfrey20:36

I have that same thing. And I've only been doing this four years and my hair and my everything has changed drastically.

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Ellen DeGeneres20:42

No, but you always look so cute and fresh.

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Oprah Winfrey20:44

Oh, well, thank you.

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Ellen DeGeneres20:44

Yes, you do.

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Oprah Winfrey20:45

Thank you.

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Ellen DeGeneres20:48

So we talk about the road trip with Gayle. Hey. Now, did you really...

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Oprah Winfrey21:01

I have never said anything other than that was really hard for me to do that. I was out on the road for 11 days. It was not fun for me. I mean, if those of you who watched it, for we're going to run it again this summer consecutively, the whole road trip. And I have to tell you, it was hard. It was really hard. 11 days her singing.

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Ellen DeGeneres21:20

I mean, oh my god. You know, and the thing about it is it's okay in the beginning because I was prepared for it in the beginning. If you're in the car for eight hours and the person doesn't stop singing. Yeah. That gets to be a little annoying.

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Oprah Winfrey21:30

Well, it seemed like she was trying to annoy you. It seemed like it's something... No, she really wasn't. No, she just did.

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Ellen DeGeneres21:35

Oh, she wasn't... She really wasn't trying. She just did. But she knew that you were annoyed by it.

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Oprah Winfrey21:40

But she didn't care.

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Ellen DeGeneres21:41

Yeah.

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Oprah Winfrey21:42

She really didn't care. And that took... She was saying, 'Well, I was trying.' And there was one point we're driving through Amish country and she loves rap music. I don't. Right. And she is singing all the rap songs turned up. We're like those people with the music turned up as loud as it can go. Driving through the Amish country with the people on their horses turning going, 'Yeah, black people in the house.' That's what she's singing going down the road.

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Ellen DeGeneres22:09

Well, at least they didn't know who you were. It was Amish country. They don't watch TV. They couldn't be mad at you or anything like that. All right, we're taking another break. We'll be back with Oprah. Back with Oprah.

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Oprah Winfrey22:19

You play such good music during the breaks.

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Ellen DeGeneres22:21

Yeah, there was a moment I had a New Year's Eve party in Africa. We're gonna... I know we're gonna talk about Africa later, but I had a New Year's Eve party before I opened the school and Chris Tucker was there, Chris Rock was there, Spike Lee was there, and there was a James Brown song playing just like that song was playing during the break. They all jumped up on the stage New Year's Eve and started dancing and singing. It was a line of like 20 black men dancing on stage. I knew it was over because Steedman was up there. Yeah. I go, 'What are you doing?' So, yeah, it was really great fun. And James Brown makes people want to move, you know.

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Oprah Winfrey22:52

Yeah. There's nothing like the energy of... I mean the whole dancing thing for me started as an accident because it really was just about the music and then it just makes me want to dance and then the audience started dancing and it's like now this whole show is accidentally a talk show but mainly a dance show.

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Ellen DeGeneres23:07

Mainly a dance show. Yeah. Do you ever dance? Do you ever dance by yourself? I know you dance on the show all the time.

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Oprah Winfrey23:13

Oh yeah.

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Ellen DeGeneres23:13

Do you ever like you're in your house and the music is just vibing so good. Did you just have a party for one?

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Oprah Winfrey23:19

Yeah. Well, no. Stedman and I dance together all the time at the house. I mean, we really do. We just start dancing. I think that it's important to dance.

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Ellen DeGeneres23:25

Seven's on the road a lot, so I'm usually a party for one. It's me and the dogs.

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Oprah Winfrey23:28

And you dance with the dogs?

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Ellen DeGeneres23:29

I dance? No. Well, they don't like to. It makes them nauseous. I've tried that to stand them up. I tried that dancing with the little Sophie and then she gets a little sick, so that's not good. But no, I have parties for one all the time.

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Oprah Winfrey23:39

And what I was going to say, what do you do to unwind? Is it the dogs? Because with your schedule, I'm busy and I don't... Maybe it's the dogs. The moment I land in California, you know, I learned this from Cesar, Cesar the dog guy, that you have to establish yourself as the pack leader because if you've been out of the environment, you go... so the first thing I do when I get home is walk the dogs. We go for a walk because that's what dogs like to do more than anything other than...

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Ellen DeGeneres24:08

Walk on leashes or they just follow... No, they're just... they just follow you. Well, you know, I live, you know... No. Yeah, I know. In a village and so...

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Oprah Winfrey24:15

No, but I walk the dogs. The first thing I do no matter what time I get on at night, I let them out and we go for a walk and that establishes you as pack leader.

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Ellen DeGeneres24:22

That's what they... and they like that.

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Oprah Winfrey24:25

Got to do that.

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Ellen DeGeneres24:26

Yeah. Pack leader. All right. And so because... how you...

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Oprah Winfrey24:30

That's what I do to calm myself down. You know, if you were to ask me what is my favorite thing to do is being with my dogs. Being with my dogs. I have five dogs. Five dogs.

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Ellen DeGeneres24:38

Do you want more?

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Oprah Winfrey24:40

And I'm thinking about getting two more. That'll be seven. Lucky. Seven.

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Ellen DeGeneres24:45

What do you mean two more? Do you know the two or you're just thinking you want two more?

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Oprah Winfrey24:48

I want two more.

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Ellen DeGeneres24:49

The same kind of dog.

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Oprah Winfrey24:49

I had three big... See, at one time I had five golden retrievers and my oldest golden retriever was 15 years old died and all of them died. They had a string of cancer. So 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, they all died. So that whole line is gone. And now I have three. So I'm thinking about getting two more goldens. I have three goldens and two cocker spaniels. I met those I think.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:08

Yeah. Sophie and Solomon. They're in the car right now waiting on me right now.

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Oprah Winfrey25:10

They're in the car. They go with you everywhere.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:12

Everywhere. They're saying hope she finishes yelling show. We're hungry. Yeah. Yeah. And there's a park across the street. I just promised Sophie I'd take her to the dog park as soon as we finished here.

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Oprah Winfrey25:20

Oh, good.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:21

Yeah. Her dogs will be at the park across the street. Everybody's going to be out there. That's where we're going after we leave the Ellen show. Yeah.

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Oprah Winfrey25:30

All right. So, it's that because I was going to say... and I don't understand people who don't love dogs.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:33

No, I don't understand how people who don't love animals. Period. That's my... I think they're the most important thing.

Real quick, real quick. Because we have to take another break. Hillary and Barack. That's very interesting, right?

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Oprah Winfrey25:48

Very interesting.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:49

Very interesting. Anybody that you're feeling right now?

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Oprah Winfrey25:52

Yeah.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:52

You want to say or no?

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Oprah Winfrey25:54

You want to say?

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Ellen DeGeneres25:54

I'm feeling Barack.

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Oprah Winfrey25:55

You're feeling Barack.

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Ellen DeGeneres25:56

I'm feeling Barack. It's tough. It's great to have a woman.

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Oprah Winfrey25:59

You know what the thing about it is? It doesn't make the other candidate any less.

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Ellen DeGeneres26:07

I'm just feeling Barack.

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Oprah Winfrey26:08

Yeah.

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Ellen DeGeneres26:08

Okay. Yeah. And I think for me I'm really torn because I love him. I really love him and I think Hillary...

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Oprah Winfrey26:14

I just love him. I respect him. I think that he's a fresh new voice in politics. I think that what he can do for this country would be amazing.

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Ellen DeGeneres26:22

Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I agree. But it's always nice to see a woman running and I think that's an amazing thing that we have those two right now and...

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Oprah Winfrey26:29

I think it's great for the country. Don't you?

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Ellen DeGeneres26:31

It is. What if we ran?

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Oprah Winfrey26:36

You know, I have never been interested in politics and you shouldn't either. First of all, this pays better and also you just have a voice to the world sitting right here.

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Ellen DeGeneres26:47

And over the years, for me, the show has evolved into standing for more. You know, when I first started, I was just happy to be on television. And now, for me, it really is more than a show. It's a voice to the world in order to share stories that really open people's hearts in a way that I believe that we can. Yeah.

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Oprah Winfrey27:03

Yeah. And which is what we're going to talk about when we come back because what you're doing in Africa for these girls is incredible.

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Ellen DeGeneres27:08

Yeah. I love my girls. All right. We'll be right back with Oprah.

We're back with Oprah. That was... That airs tonight, right?

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Oprah Winfrey27:16

Yeah, that airs tonight right after Grey's Anatomy. That's my first Oscar special. You know, it's mine in that I'm producing it. But the beautiful thing about it is we got all of these amazing stars, really incredible big A-list name stars like Nicole Kidman to interview her friend Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts to interview her friend George Clooney, and Jamie Foxx and Sidney Poitier.

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Ellen DeGeneres27:37

Amazing. Really? That's the Oscar special on tonight?

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Oprah Winfrey27:40

Yeah, tonight.

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Ellen DeGeneres27:41

Tonight. Now, are you gonna be at the awards? Are you going to watch the...

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Oprah Winfrey27:46

I think I'm gonna do it from home.

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Ellen DeGeneres27:48

No, I'm going to do one of the parties. I think Vanity Fair.

O

Oprah Winfrey27:51

All right. I'll see you there. Okay. Yeah. Now, and any favorite picks for...

E

Ellen DeGeneres27:56

Well, I really, really, really want Forest Whitaker to win. Don't you?

O

Oprah Winfrey28:00

I can't say. Okay. I have to be neutral.

E

Ellen DeGeneres28:02

Oh, you have to be neutral. That's right. Okay. I'll tell you at the party.

O

Oprah Winfrey28:05

Okay. I really, really... that's... he was amazing. Wasn't he amazing?

E

Ellen DeGeneres28:10

Yes, he was amazing. I loved that movie and I thought he was incredible.

O

Oprah Winfrey28:13

Yeah. And so I'm really hoping and just not even for that. He's had a beautiful body of work. So that's really my favorite for...

E

Ellen DeGeneres28:19

And he's a sweet guy too.

O

Oprah Winfrey28:20

And he is. His family is the whole thing. I had a little party for him just because I wanted to say whether you win or not Forest, I'm for you.

E

Ellen DeGeneres28:28

Oh, that's cool. I'm very proud of you. I think we should do that for people. Don't you? Just to have parties for people.

O

Oprah Winfrey28:32

No, just to say to people that when they do great stuff.

E

Ellen DeGeneres28:36

Yes. Yes. I'm proud of you. Yeah. Yeah. Not everybody has to have a party for you. Just to say I'm really proud of you.

O

Oprah Winfrey28:40

Oh, yeah. And I didn't know him. I just called him up and said, 'Hey, can I have a party for you?' And he was like, 'Sure.' 'Hey, can I have a party?'

E

Ellen DeGeneres28:49

Well, who's going to say no to that? I don't know. Oprah calls you and says, 'Can I have a party?' Uh, no. I can't. But I have to tell you, I was a little nervous about it because I really didn't know him. I'd had him on my show and then I thought, well, I'm going to have a party for him. I'm going to see if he'll say yes. And he did.

O

Oprah Winfrey29:06

I'm gonna call some people I want to meet and just say, 'I want to have a party for you.' I realize you can just do that.

E

Ellen DeGeneres29:12

Yeah. Yeah, you could do that.

O

Oprah Winfrey29:13

I am. I'm going to do that. I'm going to think of some people and I'm going to call and just say, 'I would like to have a party for you.' Hello. Hello.

E

Ellen DeGeneres29:23

That's good. All right. Now we're going to take another break and we're going to talk about your leadership academy. I promise. Next.

O

Oprah Winfrey29:30

Okay.

E

Ellen DeGeneres29:31

Right. Next. Yes. One of the girls we were expecting never showed up. Tando, the car we'd sent to pick her up had been late.

O

Oprah Winfrey29:40

And then when I got there, I got told that Oprah had gone already. I was very worried when I came in late. And then I was told to answer a phone.

E

Ellen DeGeneres29:50

Hello.

O

Oprah Winfrey29:51

Hello, Tando. Hello. It's Oprah Winfrey. How are you?

T

Tando29:55

I'm so sorry I missed you, but I wanted you to come because I wanted to tell you that you are accepted in the school.

O

Oprah Winfrey30:07

Thank you. You're so welcome. I'll see you next time.

T

Tando30:12

Bye bye. Thank you. I made it in!

E

Ellen DeGeneres30:25

Love that. So... I love that. I love that moment for her.

O

Oprah Winfrey30:31

They are. So there's... You saw the special, right?

E

Ellen DeGeneres30:34

Yes. I loved it. I loved it.

O

Oprah Winfrey30:36

You saw two, right?

E

Ellen DeGeneres30:37

Yeah. Good. It makes you cry and feel good and all kinds... inspired.

O

Oprah Winfrey30:43

You know, I'm asking people to watch this on Monday night 10:00 Eastern, 9:00 Central time. I'm asking people to watch it with their families because I think if you watch it with your kids, can you imagine? I've watched it with other people's kids, Forest's kids as a matter of fact, and the children are inspired by it because kids can't believe that other kids are having to study by candlelight and still are at the top of their class.

E

Ellen DeGeneres31:06

Yeah. What's amazing is how poor they are and how they live and yet they are so... the way they speak, the way they're...

O

Oprah Winfrey31:15

They have the light inside them. You know, I went from village to village to village all over South Africa this past summer, looking for girls. And that's how I spent my summer looking for girls, looking for girls. And I was looking for girls who had it, you know, and it is... you have it. I have it. You know, when somebody has it, it's that quality that no matter what they've been through in life, there's just sort of a spark. There's a light in the eyes that says it doesn't matter what I've been through, I still have life and I believe I can be successful. So this whole school is made up of those kinds of girls who come from the poorest of the poor. The poorest of the poor. I mean a lot of my girls, I had a Christmas dinner which you'll see in the special. We had the first Christmas dinner they've ever had. And a lot of these girls are coming from places where they don't eat. And they ate like football players. What we don't show you in the special is that there was a throwing up party afterwards too.

E

Ellen DeGeneres32:05

I was going to say you're not used to it. Yeah. They ate so much food and they were hiding it, you know, hoarding it in their pockets and stuff because they wanted the next day they were going to go home to their families and they wanted to take food to their families.

O

Oprah Winfrey32:16

Wow. It's incredible and I love that moment. Talk about, you know, it and just getting through anything.

E

Ellen DeGeneres32:22

When you go back home and you go to Mississippi and you tell the story of your grandmother saying, 'Watch me.'

O

Oprah Winfrey32:27

Watch me now. My grandmother had said to me when I was a little, little girl and I could see her breath because it was so cold and she was washing clothes in this big iron pot. Sounds like 1785, but it really was 1955. Probably 1959 because I was four years old. And she said, 'You better watch me now, Oprah Gail, because one day you're going to have to learn how to do this for yourself.' And a little voice inside me said, 'No, Grandma. That's not going to be me. That's not going to be my life.' But I had sense enough not to tell her that.

E

Ellen DeGeneres32:57

But you were four years old thinking.

O

Oprah Winfrey32:58

I was four years old thinking, 'This will not be my life.' And so I'm just really happy to be able to step in for these girls because these are girls who wouldn't have had a chance because what a lot of people who were critical when I came back from South Africa saying why were you doing this school there? What I think a lot of people didn't realize is that in South Africa as in many countries around the world, girls have to pay to go to school. Girls and boys, you have to pay. There is not a free public education. And so for all of my girls, the girls at my school now, school would have been over for them. A little 12-year-old girl had said to me, 'If I don't go to your school, school is over because my mother can't afford it.' That's what most people don't realize. They have to pay to go to school. Yeah. It's crazy.

E

Ellen DeGeneres33:39

So eventually, you know, one of my big goals is to eliminate school fees in that country and other countries around the world because we still live in a world in different parts of the world where people think that if you're a boy, you're better. And so it's better to educate the boy than the girl. So that's why I wanted to create this great school. And the special is on Monday night.

O

Oprah Winfrey33:57

You have to watch the special. It is really amazing. And it's amazing what you're doing. I'm just... I'm...

E

Ellen DeGeneres34:02

It's not even amazing. It's just... You know what I felt like? I felt like when I started, I looked in the eyes of these girls. I really thought I was looking at myself.

O

Oprah Winfrey34:09

You saw that little girl where I thought I was looking at myself. It was really cathartic for me. I mean, it was like a full circle thing for me to realize you're really just helping yourself who you used to be.

E

Ellen DeGeneres34:21

Yeah. Yeah. I have a gift for you. I got you. Did I ask you if you were nervous about two more towels?

O

Oprah Winfrey34:28

Oh my goodness. Is it... I have a set.

E

Ellen DeGeneres34:32

Yeah, I have a set of Abyss, which I think you like. And so, are you nervous about doing the... Are you nervous?

O

Oprah Winfrey34:37

Well, you know, I'm going to drink a little bit. So, do a couple shots of tequila.

E

Ellen DeGeneres34:43

A couple shots just before. Yeah. All right. It's a long night.

O

Oprah Winfrey34:46

If it's not too dark outside. Bath sheets.

E

Ellen DeGeneres34:49

Yeah. See, that's what I'm talking about. I got you. Now you have a set.

O

Oprah Winfrey34:53

Yeah. Yeah. I only dry off in sheets now.

E

Ellen DeGeneres34:56

Really? Yeah. Towels are too short.

O

Oprah Winfrey34:58

Yeah. Too small. For many years, I was poor and I used to think about the people who had these, you know. I was thinking like when I get money, I'm going to get bath sheets.

E

Ellen DeGeneres35:06

I didn't... I was so poor. I didn't know there were bath sheets.

All right. We may be walking Oprah's dog in a minute.

O

Oprah Winfrey35:16

Yeah. I'm going to go walk my dogs. That's what I'm going to do.

E

Ellen DeGeneres35:18

We're going to follow you. Okay. The Oprah Winfrey Oscar special airs tonight at 10 o'clock on ABC. And Building a Dream, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy airs Monday, February 26th at 10 o'clock on ABC. We'll be right back. Don't go away. All right, it's time to give away our fourth pair of Oscar red carpet bleacher seats. And the seats go to Terry Jackson from Fort Worth, Texas. You're going to be on the red carpet. Terry Jackson, Fort Worth, Texas. I want to thank my guests, Oprah Winfrey, Donnie Osmond. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go help Oprah walk her dogs. See you.

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