The Real Real Reason Oprah Hated Dave

It was about more than just a dine and dash, says Kitty Kelley
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 5, 2010 8:04 AM CDT
The Real Real Reason Oprah Hated Dave
This photo, supplied by Harpo Productions, shows Oprah Winfrey welcoming first-time guest David Letterman to her 22nd season premiere held at WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 10, 2007.   (AP)

David Letterman finally spilled the beans on his long and legendary feud with Oprah Winfrey, but Kitty Kelley says there's more to it. The unauthorized Winfrey biographer says it all started when Oprah appeared on Letterman's show in 1989, the night after she hosted a disastrous devil-worshiping segment on her own show. People were upset Winfrey seemed to accept devil worshipers, and Letterman's audience got out of hand: Kelley claims Oprah was not happy that Dave failed to defend her against one audience member who yelled, "Rip her, Dave."

After that appearance, Kelley writes on the Huffington Post, Dave didn't let up: He made a joke about clams from Oprah's restaurant making him sick just days after the devil-worshiping incident, mocked her self-titled magazine in a Top 10 list, and made numerous other jokes at her expense over the years. But at the same time, he became a sort of Opraholic himself, begging for an invitation to her show. Of course, though she eventually gave in, Letterman didn't stop the jokes and, Kelley surmises, he probably never will. (To see what Winfrey thinks of Kitty Kelley, click here.)

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