Gayle King Defends Oprah Winfrey After Cindy Crawford’s Bizarre Claim That She Treated Her Like “Chattel”

A little over a week ago, Cindy Crawford made headlines for a comment she made in the Apple TV+ docuseries, The Super Models.

In the series, she remembered feeling objectified by Oprah Winfrey during an appearance on her talk show way back in 1986. Crawford remembers how Oprah demanded she stand up and show off her body to the cameras and the live studio audience.

“This is what I call a body,” Oprah said as Crawford stood up.

I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard. When you look at it through today’s eyes, Oprah’s like … ‘Show us why you’re worthy of being here.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that was so not OK really,’ Especially from Oprah!

But as we pointed out last time we reported on this, Crawford was a model at the time! If a basketball player went on Oprah’s show and she asked them to spin a basketball on their finger, would that also be wrong?

Crawford’s calling out of Oprah seemed odd to us, and apparently we’re not alone. Entertainment Tonight asked Oprah’s longtime friend, Gayle King, about the incident, and she admitted she was “surprised” and “a little disappointed” by Crawford.

I know Cindy’s been on her show many, many, many times and it has always been a pleasant experience, [so] I would hate to think that something that happened years ago [could have bothered her]. Oprah never would want to humiliate or make anybody feel badly. As far as I know, everything is good between Oprah and Cindy.

Yeah, we’re just as confused.