Oprah Winfrey is stepping into the fray for Democratic candidate Barack Obama, boring a slow hole beneath the waterline of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Winfrey is estimated to be worth more than $2.5 billion, and her media power is legendary – endorsements via Oprah’s Book Club can be a fast-track to fame, money and influence, although some have expressed distress at being included. Even a recent scandal over abuse at the South African school connected to her did no harm to her image whatsoever. One wonders whether ill political winds will dredge up some mud on that when the fight for votes in Iowa gets down and dirty. Since the announcement of Oprah’s deployment, Barbra Streisand has come out on the side of Hillary Clinton, but where did she do it? On Oprah’s series, of course. With a reach of 49 million U.S. viewers, not to mention 117 further countries taking the talk show, she’d be mad not to. If it came down to a fight, News Hour knows which side we’d rather be on.
Gordon Brown could do with some of that star power at the moment, to turn around his shell-shocked premiership. In the world of book clubs, who else would Oprah’s British equivalent be but Richard and Judy? (Both of the Prime Minister’s tomes are strangely missing from their website at the moment – that’d be a start.) One suspects Richard might welcome a position of power and influence to stamp his mark all over the country, especially with the talk show on the way out. He’ll be looking for a new project.
According to Forbes, Oprah is the 21st most powerful woman in the world, two places above the Queen, and with Hillary sneaking in at number 25. Oprah is no ordinary celebrity of course, she’s a businesswoman – but it’s a strange world indeed where stars can be more powerful than the politicians they endorse. It prompts the question: why don’t we elect our celebrities, too? But of course we do. Certain celebrities sell covers, command columns and coverage – if they don’t, they die off pretty quickly – and then of course there’s I’m A Celebrity…, where the voting is direct. The winner has an established career path to follow, bouncing between hosting jobs on digital spin-offs, product sponsorship or tell-all Faustian pacts with the papers.
As the celebrity bubble drifts ever further down the food chain, we wonder how long it will be before schools offer careers advice for eager beavers keen to make their mark in the celebrity industry. Perhaps some work experience to see whether you like it, or not. A few lines of coke on the floor of a dirty bathroom, crash diet, knowing when to blink between flashbulbs, that sort of thing.
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 