Oprah ‘shamed’ live on-air: ‘Why are you so fat?’

Oprah Winfrey has opened up about an infamous on-air stoush with Joan Rivers that left her feeling “shamed” over her weight.

Oprah Winfrey vividly remembers being body-shamed by Joan Rivers during her appearance on “The Tonight Show” in 1985.

“Joan Rivers turns to me and she says, ‘Tell me, why are you so fat?’” the former “Oprah Winfrey Show” host recalled in Monday’s episode of the Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast.

Winfrey, 70, could not believe that the late comedian had just called out her weight “on national television” and did not know how to handle the situation.

“I just [said], like, ‘Oh, I just love potato chips, Joan,’” she remembered, to which Rivers said, “Shame on you.”

In the moment, Winfrey agreed with the host, who coldly joked she would let her return to the show on one condition.

Oprah during a 1986 appearance on Rivers’ program. Picture: Getty

‘“I’ll let you come back if you lose 15 pounds [6.8kg]. You need to lose 15 pounds,’” Winfrey said Rivers replied.

“And I accept it. I accept that I should be shamed because how dare me be sitting up here on The Tonight Show,” the media mogul added.

Winfrey recalled assuring Rivers, who died in 2014, that she would lose 15 pounds — but that “of course” she “didn’t.”

“I went and ate my way to another 10 pounds,” she said.

The Daytime Emmy winner ended up going to a health retreat in an attempt to slim down, but the decision almost jeopardized her role in the 1985 film The Color Purple.

Winfrey has been open about using weight loss drugs to control her weight more recently. Picture: Getty

Rivers on stage in 2012. She died two years later. Picture: Getty

Steven Spielberg, the director of the movie, called Winfrey and told her, “‘I hear you’re at a fat farm. You lose a pound, you could lose this part,’” according to her recollection.

In that moment, the actress gave up on getting the role.

“The instant I let it go was the greatest life lesson I have ever received, because I physically felt the release,” she shared.

Winfrey went on to land the part of Sofia anyway, which earned her an Academy Award nomination.

“That became my grounding teaching for the rest of my life and career,” she said. “Do everything you can, work as hard as you can, and then let it go.”

The famed talk show host is known for her yo-yo dieting and constant weight fluctuation throughout her storied career. She sat on the board of WeightWatchers for nearly 10 years but left her position in February after admitting to using a weight-loss drug to slim down.

Winfrey said she felt “shamed” by Rivers’ public admonishments. Picture: Getty

“I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she told People at the time.

“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”

These days, Winfrey has been showing off her newly svelte figure and focusing on self-love. She also apologised for her contribution to the toxicity of diet culture.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.