When people approach Oprah Winfrey for financial assistance, they apparently seek big bucks.
A video from 2014 has recently been gaining popularity on TikTok and it features Oprah explaining the significant sums of money people have requested, ABC News reported.
On April 6, 2014, during her commute in the city outside The Jefferson Hotel in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., a TMZ paparazzo approached Oprah, her partner Stedman Graham, and her friend Gayle King, stopping them for questions.
Seeing how she is one of the wealthiest women in the world, the cameraman asked her the following question: “Oprah, what is the one dollar amount most people ask for if they ever do ask for anything? Is there one number amount?”
Oprah replied that the amount people ask from her is more significant than $50,000, and it has always been based on how much people believed she was making.
Deep Pocket But No Lending
“Here’s what I find. People ask for money depending on what they think you have,” Oprah said. “So when I was making $22,000 a year, people always needed $50. Then when I moved to $50,000 a year, everybody always needed $500. Now nobody needs anything less than $50,000.”
Whether it is her giving to residents affected by a natural disaster in Hawaii, where she has an estate, or speculation of Oprah not paying actors like Taraji P. Henson their fair share, people have always speculated about how much the media businesswoman gives to those around her. However, as reported by The Thing, Oprah upholds a personal policy: she does not lend money to friends.
“Just have it as a standard policy: Don’t loan friends money,” Oprah said. “Give your friend the money and say, ‘Look, I’m just gonna do this for you, you don’t even have to pay me back.’ ‘Cause loaning friends money will cause you major issues in the friendship.”
As Finurah previously reported, Oprah starred in the original “The Color Purple,” and she is also a producer of the latest version, a musical version based on the Broadway show.
When Henson began bemoaning what she calls her inadequate compensation in the industry while on a publicity tour for the new movie, a sentiment shared by many other Black actresses, the Empire star clarified her position about Oprah, saying she is not only good with her but Oprah reached out for support.
“Ms. OPRAH has been nothing less than a steady and solid beacon of light to ALL OF THE CAST of The Color Purple!!! She has provided ENCOURAGEMENT, GUIDANCE and UNWAVERING SUPPORT to us all. She told me personally to reach out to her for ANYTHING I needed, and I did! It took ONE CALL… ONE CONVERSATION… and ONE DECISION MAKING BLACK WOMAN to make me feel heard,” Henson said.
