Rose McGowan recently issued some harsh criticism of Oprah Winfrey, slamming the media mogul for being “as fake as they come.” Taking to Twitter on Sunday, the former Charmed star shared a picture of Oprah with disgraced Hollywood producer, and convicted rapist, Harvey Weinstein. “I am glad more are seeing the ugly truth of [Oprah],” McGowan wrote, tagging the talk show host in the post. “I wish she were real, but she isn’t.”
“From being pals with Weinstein to abandoning & destroying Russell Simmon’s [sic] victims,” McGowan continued, “she is about supporting a sick power structure for personal gain, she is as fake as they come.” The actress concluded her post by seemingly referring to Oprah as a “lizard” with a hashtag. McGowan was one of the dozens of women to come forward with accusations of sexual assault and rape against Weinstein. The ex-film studio executive was eventually found guilty on two felony charges. Simmons has kept a low profile since allegations surfaced against him, but both men have denied the allegations against them.
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McGowan likely brought up Winfrey after an old interview of hers with Dolly Parton resurfaced this week. Some Parton fans accused Winfrey of being too invasive in her line of questioning, which included Parton’s mental health and cosmetic surgery history. Plenty others defended Winfrey for the interview, claiming Parton was open before and after that interview about those topics.
In addition to McGowan’s allegations against Weinstein, McGowan has also accused director Alexander Payne of sexual misconduct, stemming from an alleged incident when she was 15 years old. In a tweet from August 2020, McGowan directly called out Payne, stating, “You sat me down & played a soft-core porn movie you directed for Showtime under a different name. I still remember your apartment in Silverlake. You are very well-endowed. You left me on a street corner afterwards. I was 15.”
In a follow-up tweet, McGowan shared a photo of herself as a teenager, and wrote, “I just want an acknowledgment and an apology. I do not want to destroy. This was me at 15.” Payne is an award-winning writer and director who has garnered two Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars – Sideways (2006) and The Descendants (2012) – and two Golden Globe Awards, including one for Best Motion Picture – Drama for The Descendants.
His other Golden Globe was for Best Screenplay for 2003’s About Schmidt. Some of Payne’s other major motion picture projects include Citizen Ruth (1996), Election (1999), Nebraska (2013), and Downsizing (2017). The filmmaker denied any wrongdoing in a statement, confirming that he did have a past relationship with McGowan, but stating that she was of legal consenting age at the time. “While I cannot allow false statements about events twenty-nine years ago to go uncorrected,” Payne said in part, “I will continue to wish only the best for Rose.”
