Mark Bieganski: June 2008 Archives

Oprah Winfrey, former president Bill Clinton and actor Denzel Washington were among the cast of celebrity characters to appear at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday bash Wednesday in London's Hyde Park.

The dinner, attended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Robert DeNiro and Bob Geldof, helped to raise money for Mandela's AIDS charity.

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If there's one thing Oprah Winfrey learned from her 21-day vegan detox diet, it's that she's more aware now more than ever of what's on her dinner plate at night.

Winfrey embarked on the vegan diet four weeks ago -- cutting caffeine, sugar, alcohol and animal products from her daily eating habits.

What did she miss most? Wine.

"I want some wine. Bordeaux 82. Just one glass at sunset, almost broke down and had a glass. I didn't, mostly because of my commitment to fellow VCTers. Tomorrow, Scarlet…tomorrow is another day. That's my mantra for now," Winfrey writes on her blog.

Winfrey took on the challenge to jump start an inner makeover and blogged daily on her detox challenge.

"I used to say thanks before a meal out of perfunctory habit," Winfrey said. "Now I consider it true grace to be able to eat anything in a world of increasing food shortages and starving people."

Did you diet with Oprah? Ever thought about a vegan detox? Tell us your story. Was it a success? A disaster?

Oprah Winfrey visits with winemakers Rich Frank, center, of Frank Family Vineyards, and Garen Staglin, right, of Staglin Family Vineyard during the lot preview and barrel tasting event of the 28th annual Napa wine auction in St. Helena, Calif., a few weeks ago. The annual auction raises millions for charity.

Oprah -- who owns a 42-acre property called the "Promised Land" in Montecito, Calif. -- is on a hiatus from her daytime talk show, which is in reruns for the summer.

Actress Portia de Rossi kisses TV Host Ellen DeGeneres, after finding out that Ellen won the Daytime Emmy for favorite talk show host. AP

TV favorite Ellen Degenres took home her fourth straight Daytime Emmy award Friday night at the 35th annual awards in Hollywood -- and has no plans to stop competing for the coveted prize.

Oprah Winfrey -- who's taken home numerous Emmy awards for her daytime talk show -- hasn't submitted her name for consideration for the past few years.

"I'm not going to take my name out. Oprah has made so many bad choices. Look at her career," DeGeneres said jokingly.

Fellow talk show host Tyra Banks also took home an Emmy nod for best informative talk show -- and gave praise to Winfrey during her acceptance speech.

"I want to thank Oprah Winfrey for her inspiration," Banks said. "She is the queen and will always be the queen."

Congrats, Ellen!

Yes, says Fortune.

According to editor-at-large Patricia Sellers, Susan Lyne -- the former CEO of Martha Stewart Omnimedia -- is in talks with Winfrey about taking on some sort of leadership role at Oprah's new OWN network.

It was rumored that Lyne (shown left) was being courted to run the new network. However, Winfrey announced yesterday that Robin Schwartz -- president of Regency Television -- would be heading up the new network.

Lyne is credited with boosting ratings during her stint at ABC for developing Desperate Housewives, which continues to be a thriving hit for the network.

How does Martha feel about all this? Stay tuned.

President of Regency Television -- Robin Schwartz -- has been named the president of Oprah Winfrey's new cable empire: The Oprah Winfrey Network, the talk show host announced today.

Set to launch next year, OWN takes over the now Discover Health Channel and will be based out of Los Angeles. Winfrey's currently produces her daily television show in Chicago, and her monthly "O" magazine in New York.

“I look forward to working with Robin to build a network that will celebrate the best in people,” said Oprah Winfrey, chairman of OWN, in a statement.

Programming for the network has yet to be announced, with speculation continuing over when reruns of Winfrey's popular talk show might surface on the channel.

Click inside to read the full release

Despite recent criticisms her star power might be fading, local TV icon Oprah Winfrey's influence still reigns supreme, at least according to Forbes magazine.

For the second year in a row, Winfrey topped Forbes list of the most influential celebs. The magazine bases its ratings on how celebs pit against each other in the categories of pay, internet searches, press ranking, TV coverage, E-score and name.

Winfrey topped the list, finishing ahead of Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce Knowles and David Beckham. She earned $275 million last year according to Forbes, which also calls the star "intelligent" and "influential."

View the complete rankings here.

Several newspapers, including the New York Times, The Independent, and Sun-Times columnists Bill Zwecker and Robert Feder recently examined whether Winfrey was losing her crown after statistics showed a drop in TV ratings and magazine sales.

The world’s first “pregnant man” – who’s told his story in the Advocate, in People, on Oprah and caused quite a stir of comments on this blog – is four weeks away from giving birth and already for more kids.

In the latest round of his “exclusive” story – Thomas Beatie posed “naked” – showing off new pictures of his baby bump – to the News of the World and says he and wife Nancy have already picked a name for their daughter – slated to arrive in four weeks.

"… we might even have more children. We will just see what the experience is like with our daughter's arrival first and then give it some thought," he says.

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TV titan Oprah Winfrey is so "euphoric" over Barack's Obama clinching of the democratic nomination for president, she's doing a happy dance.

In a statement issued in response to Obama's victory Tuesday, Oprah says: "I'm euphoric, I've been doing the happy dance all day. I'm so proud of Barack and [his wife] Michelle Obama and what this means for all of us ... the new possibilities for our country. And if he wants me to, I'm ready to go door to door."

Does this mean Oprah will be returning to the campaign trail for Obama in the next few months? I'll bet my TV remote she probably will.