Oprah Winfrey has responded to online criticism aimed at her and CBS This Morning presenter Gayle King after footage of the pair arriving at Paris Fashion Week prompted comments about how they looked walking into a show.
The 72-year-old media figure has been attending several high-profile runway events in recent weeks, appearing alongside her close friend King, 71, and drawing attention for her noticeably slimmer figure.
But when the duo turned up at the Tennis Club de Paris on March 4 for Chloé’s event, it wasn’t their outfits dominating social media chatter.
Instead, clips focusing on their slow, hesitant entrance quickly spread online, sparking speculation about everything from age-related issues to possible medical factors.
Viewers described the pair as looking “disoriented” and “unsteady,” with the Daily Mail reporting that the video prompted a wave of discussion about their stiff movement on the red carpet.
Winfrey later addressed the moment directly after seeing both the footage and the reaction it generated. During a break in an interview, she explained what was actually going on as they made their way into the show.
In a clip posted to Instagram, she referenced the online backlash, saying: “On the internet, somebody was – you know how people drag you on the internet – so they were dragging me and Gail saying ‘Look at them walking like they’re 90 years old’.”
According to Winfrey, their pace and unsteadiness had nothing to do with aging and everything to do with last-minute styling and a painful injury.
She described being handed sunglasses moments before stepping out, saying: “And so there was a moment where we’re walking into the Chloe fashion show and my [assistant] had just handed me the Chloe sunglasses before I got out of the car.
“Now I wear glasses or I wear contacts, so those were not prescription glasses.”
Winfrey then explained that the lenses left her effectively unable to see where she was going. “I didn’t know where I was walking, I could not see,” she said. “So everybody who’s saying you walking like you’re 90, I could not see!
“I said to security, ‘I can’t see. I can’t see. Tell me, tell me where I’m walking. I can’t see.'”
She also revealed that King had her own reason for moving carefully, saying her friend was dealing with a painful foot injury.
Winfrey added: “And Gail’s like, ‘I got two broken toes. I can’t walk.’ And that’s the reason we looked like we were 90-years old.”
In other words, one of them couldn’t properly see, and the other was trying to walk through real pain—making the viral moment less mysterious than the internet assumed.