Oprah Winfrey undoubtedly wields quite a bit of power in Hollywood after years of carefully crafting and growing her brand. The media mogul was named Forbes’ most influential entertainer earlier this year and has remained in the top 5 for years.
The View cohost Jenny McCarthy was perhaps intimidated by this power when she expressed she’s “scared of Oprah” to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live earlier this week.
The comedian was supposed to have a talk show on OWN but told Cohen the tentative deal fell through. “I did a deal with her for five years, but we…kinda shook hands,” she explained. “I would be scared she would beat me up.”
According to a source, McCarthy didn’t like the direction OWN executives were going with the show although Oprah’s team denied a show was ever in the works.
“Jenny wasn’t thrilled with the direction that OWN producers were going with on the show. She had been working with Oprah and her producers for over a year, developing this project for OWN. Jenny finally decided to embrace Oprah’s philosophy, which is to ‘follow your bliss.’ Well, Jenny followed her bliss and walked right off the project.”
“Do you think you’re on her ‘list’?” Cohen asked.
“I’m sure there’s probably a lot of people on her s–t list, but I’m probably number four.”
“I am terrified,” the former Playboy Playmate added. “I would be, like, oh no [if we ran into each other]!”
If McCarthy intended her slight as a joke, it fell flat. If she intended to incite a negative reaction, Oprah wasn’t biting either.
“Jenny McCarthy, [I] don’t have a shxt list,” the OWN CEO tweeted.
In her denial of a “list”, Oprah managed to reduce McCarthy’s over-inflated idea of her importance while remaining positive when she added: “If I did, you’d never be on it. Wishing you only good fortune, love, and light and watching @TheView.”
