• Lance Armstrong joins the ranks of famous TV confessors

    By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

    When Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey airs Thursday, he'll become a member of a very specific club: disgraced public figures who've addressed their wrongdoings by way of television. Whether the truth-telling is a matter of national concern or mostly a step in repairing an image (and often, a subsequent livelihood) the medium continues to be the most reliable way of getting a message out to the masses.

    George Burns / Reuters

    Cyclist Lance Armstrong is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 14.

    When you look at some of the more notable mea culpas of the past several decades, they can be split mostly into two camps. First, there's the method we'll call the confessional. Whether doing it before a room full of reporters or scores of people watching at home, the apology basically consists of one uninterrupted speech delivered directly into the camera. Advantages here include being able to steer the message in whatever way is most productive. "It's quick, for a relatively painless and simple situation," Howard Bragman, longtime crisis publicist and vice chairman of Reputation.com tells TODAY.com. Disadvantages? Look again at that part about reporters and people watching at home. 


    This was David Letterman's approach, when he came clean about an affair he had with a staffer. "I've had sex with women who work on this show," he said before a live audience in 2009.

    Tiger Woods in 2012 did a more traditional press conference version of the confessional when he said he was "deeply sorry" for the numerous affairs he had and for his unbecoming behavior, and promised to "start living a life of integrity."

    One of the most famous apologies that follows this trope goes back more than a decade, when in 2008 Bill Clinton addressed the American public and confessed that he "did have a relationship with Monica Lewinsky." 

    It was a metered response in a prepared speech delivered in an environment that left little to dissect. A single close-up shot doesn't leave much for the body language experts to interpret; the only things to be picked apart were the words themselves. It's an approach that's much safer than the second approach, the no-less-opted-for interview confession. That approach is for "when you're really trying to drum up some emotional support," according to Bragman. While the reward for a successful mea culpa under these circumstances might be great, so are the risks. The line of questioning rests squarely in the hands of the interviewer and there's far more room for error.

    Mel Gibson opted for this approach with Diane Sawyer, where he addressed an anti-Semitic rant during a traffic stop that landed him in headlines. He explained that he didn't know the arresting officer was Jewish, and "a few drinks later I was in the back of a police car, wailing."

    Who can forget Hugh Grant's "Tonight Show" interview in 1995 after he was arrested for soliciting a prostitute? Jay Leno opened with "What the hell were you thinking?"

    Of course, there have been others. Alec Baldwin apologized on "The View" for that infamous voice mail to his young daughter; Kanye West on "The Tonight Show" for interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the Video Music Awards; the list goes on.

    Odds are good that Armstrong's interview will be compared to another one conducted by Winfrey -- that of disgraced "A Million Little Pieces" author James Frey. After Winfrey sang the book's praises, it came to light that Frey fabricated vast portions of it. Winfrey confronted him about it in 2006, saying Frey "conned us all," but the two really hashed Frey's (and Winfrey's) missteps in 2011 during a lengthy interview that aired on OWN. "I created the situation," Frey said.

    Regardless of the method of delivery, every on-air apology and confession has been dissected after the fact, and to varying degrees been labelled successful or not. Has every apology withstood the test of time? They have, insofar as we still talk about them. And one common denominator among them all stands out: in every case outlined above, the careers of the blighted have all marched on.

    And after we're done questioning Armstrong the way each apologist before him has been questioned -- was he sincere? thorough? too calculating? REALLY sorry? --  that's what we'll be left to wonder. Can Armstrong make a comeback? If history is a predictor, then it looks like he can.

    "But forgiveness is not an on/off switch," Bragman points out. "He (Armstrong) will need to take measure of time. Then, and only then can he start to rebuild something."

    Which televised confession do you remember the best? Tell us on our Facebook page.

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  • Oprah Winfrey smokes in sexy scene from 'The Butler'

    By Us Weekly

    It's Oprah Winfrey like we've never seen her before! It's been a year and a half since the talk show titan signed off of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," but the 58-year-old -- recently named the highest-paid woman in Hollywood once more -- hasn't shied away from the spotlight.

    Twitter

    PHOTOS: Oprah through the years

    On Monday, Winfrey wrapped production in Louisiana on Lee Daniels' upcoming film "The Butler," in which she appears opposite Terrence Howard. In an Instagram photo, Winfrey shared a glimpse of her and Howard's final scene, in which Howard caresses Winfrey's thigh.

    "That's a wrap! Thanks Lee Daniels for the great experience," tweeted Winfrey when posting the shocking image, which features her in character, aged, smoking and offering a seductive gaze at the camera.

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    Partially based on a true story, "The Butler" chronicles the life of Eugene Allen (Forest Whitaker), an African American man who served as a White House butler from 1952-1986. Winfrey plays his wife.

    Though she got cozy with Howard's character in the Instagram pic, Winfrey relished the chance to film love scenes with Whitaker, happily married to actress Keisha Whitaker.

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    "I felt pretty good about it, let me just say. Forest is a good kisser, how about that?" Winfrey revealed to BFF Gayle King during an interview on King's "CBS This Morning." "Thank you Keisha Whitaker."

    "The Butler" -- costarring Jane Fonda, James Marsden, Minka Kelly, John Cusack and others -- is expected in theaters in 2013.

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  • Rihanna on Chris Brown: 'I lost my best friend'

    By Us Weekly

    Oprah Winfrey isn't afraid to ask tough questions, as Rihanna quickly learned when the 58-year-old TV mogul interviewed her for "Oprah's Next Chapter."

    When asked about her former relationship with Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to physically assaulting her in February 2009, Rihanna teared up. "It was embarrassing. It was humiliating. I lost my best friend," the 24-year-old pop star said.

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    Post-split, "I was resentful. I held a grudge," Rihanna admitted. "I was dark." Rihanna and Brown, 23, have since reconciled, both personally and professionally; a source told Us Weekly they hooked up "on-and-off" for nearly a year in 2011, and the two collaborated on two remixes in early 2012.

    Winfrey admitted she was surprised by Rihanna's tender candor. "I thought she would have been kind of a bad-ass kind of a rocker hard-edge woman -- nothing could have been farther from the truth," she said. "She was thoughtful. She was very emotional. She was vulnerable."


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    "She pushes the edge -- she pushes the edge a lot, and there's a reason for that," Winfrey added.

    "Oprah's Next Chapter" airs Sunday, Aug. 19 at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.

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  • Whitney Houston's family opens up to Oprah about her death, legacy

    By Courtney Garcia

    Whitney Houston’s family has offered few words since the singer’s untimely passing in February, but opened up for the first time on Sunday in a sentimental interview with Oprah Winfrey for OWN.

    In the first interview since the death of her mother, Whitney Houston, 19-year-old Bobbi Kristina Brown talked to Oprah Winfrey. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.

    Speaking on the revelation and impact of Houston’s death, her relationship with Bobby Brown, and even the leaked casket photo, Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, her brother, Gary Houston, and sister-in-law, Patricia Houston, all sat down with Winfrey at their home in Atlanta to address the pop star’s passing in a special airing of “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” The family was generally in good spirits, as Winfrey turned focus primarily to the emotional toll the death was playing on all of them, and their method of coping with the loss.

    For Bobbi Kristina, Whitney’s memory is nearly as strong as her life.

    “She would say at 5 a.m. the saints start praying,” said the 19-year-old, only daughter of the pop star. “I wake up now and look at the clock and it's 5 o'clock. I start praying."

    Bobbi Kristina told Winfrey she’s managing as best she can, that she’s “just trying to keep going” and feels her mother’s lingering presence around her, even in the form of flickering lights.

    “I can hear her voice telling me to 'keep moving, baby, I gotcha.' She's always with me. I can always feel her with me,” she explained, mentioning she aimed to further her mother’s legacy through her own career in singing and acting. Of her lasting memory with Whitney the day before she died, Bobbi Kristina commented, "I went to go get her ... I said, 'Come lay down with me.' She stayed with me all night and all day, rubbing my head. I slept in her arms. All day, all night."

    Winfrey saved the more probing questions for Gary and Patricia, asking them to recount the day Whitney died and to touch on reports she’d been abusing drugs and alcohol throughout the prior week. Patricia, who managed Whitney for 20 years, responded saying she didn’t know for certain, but doubted Whitney could have hid the fact she was on drugs with so much on her plate and so many people surrounding her. 

    On the day of her death, Whitney’s sister-in-law was staying at the Beverly Hilton a floor below her, and had left briefly to run errands during the time the singer was found. She returned to discover Whitney’s assistant screaming in the hall.

    "I knew something was wrong. I didn't know what. I was just numb,” Patricia remembered, beginning to cry. Whitney’s bodyguard attempted to revive her "to the point of exhaustion,” along with a team of paramedics, but it was too late. 

    “I saw them cover her up and I knew that was it,” said Patricia.


    When asked whether he saw it coming, Whitney’s older brother said the news was a total shock, and while there was always a fear of the inevitable, it was only their mother, Cissy, who predicted Whitney would not be with the family for long. Winfrey also mentioned Cissy in the special, noting she’d asked her to speak as well, but the matriarch was not ready.

    “I asked her how she was doing, and she said, 'I’m not,'” remarked Winfrey.

    The family appeared to be angrier with the tabloids for publishing Whitney’s casket photo than they were with the person who took the picture, calling the press “intrusive and wicked.” However, despite the incessant rumors and questions, they said they felt they’d found closure with her passing.

    Bobbi Kristina agreed that she had “accepted” her mother’s death and knew she must move forward.

    In regards to Bobby Brown, Gary and Pat dismissed any rumors he wasn’t invited to the funeral, Gary even saying he loved Brown.

    “Bobby Brown was supposed to be there,” Gary stressed. "Bobby was a good guy. I don't know how good they were for each other."

    Furthermore, they do not blame Brown for Whitney’s demons, Pat commenting, “I can't say he introduced drugs to her. I don't think that's true."

    The interview concluded with Gary singing one of Whitney’s later hits, “I Look To You,” breaking down into tears on the last verse.

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  • Houston's sister-in-law tells Oprah: 'The handwriting was on the wall'

    Reuters

    Oprah Winfrey gives a hug to Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, during a March 2 taping of their interview in Atlanta.

    By Gina Serpe, E! Online

    Oprah Winfrey's big get is inching ever closer to its big premiere, but while her sit-down with Whitney Houston's family, including daughter Bobbi Kristina, doesn't air until Sunday, E! Online has a first look at the interview.

    Among the family members in line for an emotional outpouring is Patricia Houston, Whitney's sister-in-law and onetime manager. Though obviously devastated by the untimely death, Patricia also made no attempt to hide the fact that she always suspected a premature and tragic end to Whitney's life.

    MORE: Dionne Warwick reveals her final conversation with Whitney

    "The handwriting was kind of on the wall," she told Oprah, when asked if she thought drugs would end up taking the superstar's life. "I would be kidding myself to say otherwise."

    She also noted that while, at some point in Whitney's life, she feared that the singer's destructive behavior would lead to her untimely passing, she and others truly believed that the danger period had ended.

    MORE: Whitney's Will and Five Other Last Wishes of the Stars

    "If things hadn't changed, but things were changing, things were really changing with her, very much so," she said. "It wasn't about the substance abuse or anything like that relative to the latter days or anything like that, I think it was more of lifestyle.


    "I was afraid for other things, lifestyle more so than..." she trailed off. Not letting a tease like that go unanswered, Oprah pressed her on what, exactly, it was about her lifestyle that seemed so threatening.

    PHOTOS: Whitney Houston Funeral: Farewell to a Diva

    "I saw her chasing a dream, looking for love in all the wrong places."

    Expect more elaboration on that and more this weekend, when the full hour-long special airs on OWN.

    Do you plan to watch Oprah's interview with Whitney Houston's daughter? Tell us on Facebook.

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  • Oprah lands first interview with Whitney Houston's daughter

    By Sierra Marquina, E! Online

    Things may be looking up for Oprah Winfrey's ratings-challenged OWN cable channel. The media mogul is set to interview the late Whitney Houston's only daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, in her first interview since the death of her iconic mom.

    So what exactly will Oprah's latest big get entail?

    RELATED: Whitney Houston Death: Mom Cissy Houston Calls It "Unimaginable Tragedy"

    According a statement from OWN, Oprah will sit down with Bobbi Kristina as well Whitney's sister-in-law/manager Patricia Houston and brother Gary Houston "in an intimate interview" set to air as a special episode of OWN's Oprah's Next Chapter on Sunday, March 11 at 9 p.m. ET.

    RELATED: Source: Whitney Houston's Death Will Be Ruled an Accident


    The special will reportedly center on Bobbi Kristina's personal memories of her mom and how she would like Whitney to be remembered. The family will be on hand to share remembrances and address "the rumors and speculation surrounding Houston's death."

    Preceding the special, OWN will re-air "Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Interview," which features the talk show diva reflecting on her personal memories of the songstress as well as Houston's last in-depth television interview from The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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    Will you tune in to watch the interview? Share your thoughts on Facebook.

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  • Will Sandusky and wife talk to Oprah?

    Mario Anzuoni / Reuters file

    Will Oprah Winfrey land an interview with Jerry Sandusky and his wife?

    By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News

    Many observers were shocked when Jerry Sandusky, the retired Penn State football coach charged with dozens of counts of child sexual abuse, spoke to Bob Costas on NBC's "Rock Center" in November.

    Jon Stewart even did a "Daily Show" segment questioning what Sandusky's lawyer, Joe Amendola, could have been thinking. "It seems to me when you're accused of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, you may not want to literally phone in your defense on national television," Stewart wryly pointed out.

    But Sandusky may not be done speaking to famous reporters. The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported that Amendola told them that Sandusky and his wife Dottie may do another interview after the new year, and that they're considering speaking to talk queen Oprah Winfrey, returning to "Rock Center," or speaking with Barbara Walters or "60 Minutes."

    Winfrey especially would be an interesting choice, as she's famous for celebrity interviews. Although her famed self-titled talk show ended in May, the interview would be a coup for her lesser-known OWN channel. Winfrey is debuting a new primetime talk show, "Oprah's Next Chapter," on Jan. 1, with Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler as her first guest. What better way to get the show's name known than to land a guest who's all over the news, even if for the wrong reasons?

    Sandusky's wife has staunchly defended her husband, saying Dec. 8 that "I continue to believe in Jerry’s innocence and all the good things he has done."

    In one recent indictment, Dottie Sandusky was specifically mentioned. According to the Patriot-News, one victim claims he screamed for help while being assaulted in the Sanduskys' basement, knowing that Dottie was upstairs, but no help came. Dottie Sandusky responded to those claims in a statement, saying "I have been devastated by these accusations. I am also angry about these false accusations that such a terrible incident ever occurred in my home."

    Costas told Willie Geist that the "Rock Center" interview was supposed to be just with Amendola, but that at the last minute, the attorney asked if Costas would like to speak to his client directly.

    Perhaps the oddest part of the interview came when Sandusky was asked if he was sexually attracted to young boys. First Sandusky repeated the question, then gave a rambling answer, saying "Sexually attracted? You know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them. I ... but, no, I am not sexually attracted to young boys."

    Joked Stewart about that answer: " "Everyone knows the only time when you answer with a question is when you're guilty. You can't even bring yourself to lie emphatically. It's like in that phone conversation you're fighting the urge to come clean."

     Should Sandusky and his wife speak out in another national interview? Who should they speak to? Tell us on Facebook.

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