Strained relationship: President Barack Obama and the First Lady with Oprah Winfrey during the taping of a TV special, Christmas at the White House. Picture: AP Source: AP
OH my. Barack Obama's caught in a love triangle and it may harm his election chances.
The Amateur, written by Edward Klein, a former editor of the New York Times Magazine, says the First Lady became jealous of Oprah's access to her husband shortly after he won the 2008 election.
It claims Mr Obama used to drop everything to take Oprah's calls and the talk show host began to believe she had earned right to shape White House since she was instrumental in helping him win the election.
But the relationship soon started to cool, as extracts of the book published in the New York Post make clear:
"It soon became apparent that something had gone wrong between Oprah and the new administration - or, more precisely, between Oprah and Michelle Obama," Klein says in the book.
"The problem seemed to originate from two of Michelle?s advisers, Valerie Jarrett and Desir�e Rogers, the new White House social secretary. They resented Oprah?s meddling. Among other things, Oprah had a plan to redecorate the Lincoln bedroom. She also had ideas about how Michelle could put more zing into White House social events.
"As the person who controlled access to the first couple, Valerie Jarrett saw Oprah as a potential threat to her power. If Oprah went unchecked, she would bypass Valerie and go directly to the president and First Lady. And so Valerie set about turning Michelle against Oprah. Oprah was too close to the president . . . Oprah was acting like she was the first lady . . . Oprah didn?t know her place . . . Oprah was a bad influence . . . Valerie advised Michelle to 'distance herself' from Oprah and cut her out of the White House inner circle.
"It didn?t take much to convince Michelle. As far as Michelle was concerned, Oprah?s billions and her elite lifestyle disqualified her as an adviser to Barack."
The book further alleges that Mrs Obama made a jibe about Oprah's weight and refers to an alleged disagreement the pair had over Mrs Obama's childhood obesity campaign.
Oprah allegedly screamed out to a friend after being dropped: "Michelle hates fat people and doesn?t want me waddling around the White House!"
A White House spokesman has said that Klein has made up stories to sell his book. "Nobody in their right mind would believe the nonsense in this one."
Although the Obamas have appeared on Oprah's shows since the alleged rift, Oprah isn't as close to Obama's election campaign as she was in 2007 and the book will put a further strain on the relationship
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