Oprah Recalls Being Body-Shamed On 'Tonight Show' By Joan Rivers In Heartbreaking Interview

On this week's episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, Oprah Winfrey opened up about being body-shamed on national television by Joan Rivers.

During the podcast, the media mogul recalled her first appearance on the Tonight Show in 1985 in which host Rivers called her "fat."

“Joan Rivers turns to me, and she says, ‘Tell me why are you so fat?’”

“On national television!"

"And I didn’t know what to do with that.”

Winfrey jokingly came back with:

“Oh, I just love potato chips, Joan."

But Rivers pressed on:

“No, seriously, shame on you.”

At the time, though, Winfrey said she "agreed" with Rivers who then told her:

“I’ll let you come back if you lose 15 lbs."

"You need to lose 15 lbs.”

Joan Rivers tells Oprah to Lose weight (1985 interview)youtu.be

On the podcast, Winfrey revealed she "accepted" the shaming.

"And I accept it."

"I accept that I should be shamed, because how dare me, be sitting up here on 'The Tonight Show.'”

She added that she and Joan “agreed that [she] was gonna go away and lose 15 lbs.”

And she was sincere in her promise to the host, going to a “health retreat” soon after, noting:

“At the time, they called them fat farms."

You can listen below.

Oprah Winfrey Recalls Joan Rivers Fat-Shaming Her 40 Years Agoyoutu.be

Some people on social media expressed their disappointment that Rivers made such a cruel statement.

Entertainment Tonight/Facebook

Entertainment Tonight/Facebook

Entertainment Tonight/Facebook

Entertainment Tonight/Facebook

But others loved the way it all panned out for Winfrey.

Others mentioned that although society still has a ways to go, they're grateful body positivity has been more recently embraced.

Entertainment Tonight/Facebook

Entertainment Tonight/Facebook

In the interview, Winfrey revealed that she learned her greatest "life lesson" after she believed she would be passed over for a role in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple if she didn't lose weight.

But Spielberg himself discouraged her from obsessing over her body.

She told the host that Spielberg told her:

“I hear you’re at a fat farm."

“You lose a pound, you could lose this part.”

Winfrey continued:

“The fact that it happened in the instant I know I let it go was the greatest life lesson I have ever received, because I physically felt the release."

“The second I did that it changed.”

Of course, she got the role of Sofia in the film and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.

Her advice?

“Do everything you can, work as hard as you can, and then let it go."

You can watch the full podcast below.

Oprah’s Life-Changing Lessons: Hear Your Intuition, Find Purpose & Live Your Best Life Now! (pt 2)youtu.be