Oprah Winfrey’s mother is reportedly ravaged after feeling like her famous daughter humiliated her in front of a TV audience of millions.
Not only did the talk-show diva confess to Barbara Walters that she wasn’t close to mom Vernita Lee and she went on to express her feelings about best friend Gayle King. In the interview, Winfrey referred to King as “the mother I never had.”
“Vernita is devastated,” a close family friend said. “It was the final straw after years of insults and betrayals. She just doesn’t understand why Oprah still has to be so cruel to her.”
Vernita, 75, was said to have been “so proud” when she sat down to watch the Walters interview at her Milwaukee condo.
“But her joy turned to tears and embarrassment as Oprah described her friendship with Gayle,” maintained the friend. “Vernita knows she wasn’t the perfect mother, but she loves Oprah, and she is hurt by the way her daughter put her down in public.
“She wishes Oprah would forgive her after all these years.”
