While most celebrities were quarantining themselves at home in 2020, Oprah Winfrey found herself trying to battle a very awkward and dangerous rumor.
The false allegations, which spread throughout Twitter, started to gain a good amount of traction. Someone tried to make it look like Oprah was arrested for being involved in a child sex trafficking ring. Not only is this rumor sick, but it's something that no innocent celebrity should have to face. And it was so major that Oprah herself took matters into her own hands to squash the elaborate lie.
"Just got a phone call that my name is trending," she tweeted. "And being trolled for some awful FAKE thing. It’s NOT TRUE."
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While the star has faced a lot of rumors throughout her incredible career, this one is definitely the most disturbing. After addressing the rumor, she made it clear that she was safe, indoors, and following the quarantine procedure. "Haven’t been raided, or arrested," she said. "Just sanitizing and self-distancing with the rest of the world. Stay safe everybody."
Sex trafficking has been in the entertainment news a lot these days. The Washington Examiner states that 40.3 million people are trafficked globally. Out of those individuals, around 75% are women and children. Among his many charges, convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein also had a sex trafficking charge against him, filed by two different women.
Jeffrey Epstein was also in the news for sex trafficking. Prior to his questionable death, he was well tied into the entertainment industry and was even friends with Prince Andrew. Jeffrey was accused of paying young girls for sex. Some of those girls were as young as 14.
Oprah is arguably one of the most successful female celebrities. As a black woman who carefully and intelligently built up her career throughout the years, she's an icon to so many young woman. While it's safe to believe that her fans would never have believed such an outlandish rumor to begin with, it doesn't mean it's still not dangerous for her career.
The rumor stated that Oprah had been quietly arrested at her home in Florida after a raid. The rumor even came with video footage, which Newsweek quickly debunked. The story was reportedly started by the far-right group QAnon, which has started similar rumors before.
"Welp, Oprah is the top trend in the United States because QAnon people completely made up that she was arrested as part of their fictitious baby eating ring. These people's delusions are extremely unwelcome at this moment," tweeted Ben Jones, a reporter at CNN, per Newsweek. Other reporters were also quite upset that Oprah even had to address such a crazy claim.
But some people actually believed it. And that's what's so ridiculous. The footage provided was actually tied to a house in Detroit, and there was no hint that it belonged to Oprah. However, people were still quick to jump on board before thinking about the accusations logically.
It's good that Oprah wasted no time addressing the rumor. The tweet she sent was late in the night, likely in hopes that by the morning, everyone would come to their senses. She handled the accusations with grace and reminded people that right now, the key focus is trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The truth is, Oprah has been following the rules and isn't putting anyone's lives in danger. In February, before the coronavirus threats became localized, she hit up Brooklyn’s Barclays Center with Michelle Obama. The stop was one of many for her Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour.
The tour, which started in January, helped promote health and wellness. During the first stop, Lady Gaga joined the stage with her. "Our desires are the same," Oprah told an audience of 15,000. "We want health. We want abundance. We want to be prosperous for ourselves and our families. We want to be connected … and we want to be uplifted in our lives."
During the date with Michelle, Oprah actually got her friend to open up about what it was like sending their two girls off to college. And yes, Michelle poked fun at her husband. "We tried to hold it together, to get (Sasha) in the car so she wouldn’t start crying, and then me and Barack, we bawled like little babies," Michelle admitted.
"Barack gets that ugly, loud cry," Michelle said to the audience, adding, "He did that at Malia’s graduation. We’re sitting there, and he had his glasses on and speeches are happening and we’re all chatting, and we hear…" and at that point, Michelle imitated the former president's sobs to the audience, who were enjoying every minute.
These events put on by Oprah are just a small portion of the work she's done to uplift the country, especially women. Oprah has always been relatable when it comes to relationships, hard work, leadership, and even dietary struggles. While anyone can be revealed to have a secret dark side, typically solid proof is necessary to support those claims.
Even having her name attached to the rumor is heartbreaking. Many women look up to Oprah as their idol, and rightfully so. "I cannot understate the impact that she has had on our culture," Mary McNamara, a television critic at the Los Angeles Times, said to NBC News back in 2011. "You see it everywhere, from the explosion of memoirs to social media to journalists sharing their own opinions and own stories. That all started with Oprah."
Right now, the world is facing so many uncertainties. It's important now, more than ever, to seek out credible sources for all of our news, from health issues to celebrity stories. Sometimes, people will make things up to see how far the rumor goes. But those rumors can be incredibly damaging and, in some cases, cause severe consequences.
