To some, Oprah Winfrey is the ultimate paragon of daytime television, having built up a media empire around herself since her talk show originally began back on September 8, 1986. However, others seem to be quite mad at her today after Dr. Oz announced he would be running for Senate in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Oz originally made his first TV appearance on Oprah’s show back in 2004 and made over sixty appearances on it. Eventually, she helped spearhead The Dr. Oz Show using her multimedia company Harpo Productions. It’s entirely possible that Oz’s TV career may have never happened without Oprah’s help, which is why the internet is particularly angry.
With the British Medical Journal publishing evidence finding that more than half of the recommendations on Oz’s show, among other medical TV programs, had either no evidence or contradicted medical research, many have condemned his popularity as a medical expert. His connections with Donald Trump, whom he allowed to appear on his show, have also upset many.
People across the internet are now blaming his popularity and ability to run for political office on Oprah while accusing her platforming of the now star to be extremely problematic. Complaints were so loud that Oprah trended on Twitter with many people angry at both television personalities.
Several users claimed what Oprah did was unforgivable, especially if Oz managed to be elected.
One user in particular mentioned how podcast Behind the Bastards did a two-part series discussing issues with Oz. They went so far as to say Oprah has “an indirect body count” due to her promoting Oz to audiences.
We’ll have to wait and see if Oprah decides to endorse Dr. Oz or will instead choose to support whoever is running against him due to the controversy now surrounding the TV doctor.