Oprah Biography Unauthorized Book Puts Oprah Winfrey On Defense

By: Bill Waters
Staff Writer
Published: Jan 25, 2010

American investigative journalist Kitty Kelley and Random House publishing will release the new Oprah biography on April 13

Oprah Winfrey's unauthorized biography took three years to write from more than 800 interviews. Kitty Kelley is an author to the rich and famous and plans to release the book on April 13. Random House publishing firm Crown is planning to release 500,000 copies.

"This is the first complete portrait of her - it will reveal Oprah as she has never been seen before," said Crown rep David Drake. "It will cover all aspects of her life -- It will be evenhanded. Kelley understands Oprah's cultural importance and that is something she covers at length."

"We are excited to be publishing the first comprehensive biography of one of the most influential, powerful, and admired public figures of our time, by the most widely read biographer of our era," adds Tina Constable, Vice President, Publisher, Crown Publishers

About Oprah Winfrey's Unauthorized Biographer

Kitty Kelley is an American investigative journalist. She is also the author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. She is described as a "poison pen" biographer and her profiles frequently contain unflattering personal anecdotes and details. The accuracy of her writing is often questioned.

Though many of her books have topped the best sellers list, Kelley's credibility and sources have been called into question multiple times. For example, Time magazine reported that most journalists believe Kelley "too frequently fails to bring perspective or analysis to the fruits of her reporting and at times lards her work with dollops of questionable inferences and innuendos." In addition, Kelley has been described by Joe Klein as a "professional sensationalist" and her books have been described as "Kitty litter."

Kelley is famous for her books about life inside the celebrity bubble, having written books about Jackie Onassis, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Reagan, the Bush family, and the British Royal family. She has never been successfully sued for libel or had to retract a single written statement. However, the late President Ronald Reagan excoriated her in a letter about the book she wrote on the Reagans, saying her observations were patently untrue and not worth addressing.

Former President Ronald Reagan Questioned Legitimacy

Former President Ronald Reagan, aged 80 and who was to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease three years later, issued a brief statement, in which he said: "While I am accustomed to reports that stray from the truth, the flagrant and absurd falsehoods cited in a recently published book clearly exceed the bounds of decency. They are patently untrue -- everything from the allegation of marijuana use to marital infidelity to my failure to be present at the birth of my daughter Patti. Many of my friends have urged me to issue a point-by-point denial of the book's many outrages. To do so would, I feel, provide legitimacy to a book that has no basis in fact and serves no decent purpose.