Oprah Winfrey turned on the TV doctor who propelled her to stardom on Thursday night — saying she would vote for Dr. Mehmet Oz, John Fetterman, in their battle to be elected to the Senate.
Oz, a Turkish-American surgeon, and Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, are neck and neck ahead of next week’s election.
Winfrey made Oz a household name when she appeared on his show in 2003, and invited him to hers in 2004. He would give more than 60 appearances on her hugely influential daytime show.
But on Thursday, the 68-year-old media mogul said she could not support her former guest.
“At the beginning of the mid-term campaigns, I said it was up to the citizens to vote for who would represent them,” Winfrey said at a virtual polling station.
“If I had lived in Pennsylvania, I would have cast my vote for John Fetterman.
Oprah Winfrey is seen in an early appearance with Dr Oz. On Thursday, she rejected him, saying she supported his Senate rival John Fetterman
Fetterman, pictured on Thursday, is currently neck and neck with Oz in the highly contentious race
“There are clear choices and some dynamic candidates working to represent the values so dear to so many of us, such as inclusion, compassion and community.
Winfrey will be seen at the Apple TV show ‘Sidney’ premiere in September
“So I ask voters to use discernment and choose wisely for our country’s democracy.”
Fetterman was overjoyed at the news, tweeting a heart emoji in response and saying, “WELCOME TO #TEAMFETTERMAN, @Oprah!!”
Winfrey’s support for the Democrats is no surprise, but her rejection of Oz will have hurt.
The pair met nearly 20 years ago, in 2003, when Oz and his wife Lisa created a medical series called Second Opinion with Dr. Oz for the Discovery Channel.
“My friend Gayle was so intrigued by him that she encouraged me to be his first guest,” Winfrey said in a 2011 introduction to her interview with him for her magazine.
“Luckily for me, Gayle is not only persuasive, she’s perceptive. On the day of the shooting, I immediately recognized what she had felt: a heart surgeon who cared as much about changing people’s lives as he did about repairing their hearts.’
Winfrey and Oz have appeared on each other’s shows many times
In a 2011 interview, Winfrey asked Oz, “Do you have any flaws?”
Winfrey’s endorsement of Fetterman will likely sting Oz, whom she’s known for decades
Winfrey invited Oz to her show in 2004, and he appeared more than 60 times.
“Over the years he has educated us, given us useful advice and saved countless lives – from heart attack victims who thanks to him recognized their symptoms in time… to a cancer patient who was aware of his warnings about medical errors , realized she still had the tumor that her surgeon should have removed,” she continued.
“He’s the reason I started wearing low heels (my bunions are eternally grateful to you), and he taught me everything I know about the omentum.”
In the magazine interview, she asked him, ‘Have you? each flaws?’
Calls for Winfrey to convict him escalated after his debate against Fetterman last month, and on Thursday she finally did.
Winfrey also named other Democrats she hopes to see win.
“If I was in North Carolina, Sister Cheri Beasley, if I was in Florida, I would support Val Demings,” she said.
“If I was in Wisconsin, it would be Mandela Barnes; in Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto; in Texas, Beto O’Rourke; and Raphael Warnock and the incredible Stacey Abrams in Georgia.”