Drudge is reporting that Oprah Winfrey is getting thousands of emails and requests to have Sarah Palin on her highly rated talk show.  However, Oprah is battling a divided staff and refusing to allow the Alaskan governor on her show because of her highly partisan support for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

Oprah’s staff is sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

“Half of her staff really wants Sarah Palin on,” an insider explains. “Oprah’s website is getting tons of requests to put her on, but Oprah and a couple of her top people are adamantly against it because of Obama.”

One executive close to Winfrey is warning any Palin ban could ignite a dramatic backlash!

It is not clear if Oprah has softened her position after watching Palin’s historic convention speech.

This is pretty amazing and typical of Oprah trying to wield her power.  She will have transgender pregnant men on her show, freaks of every variety and walk of life, but is now refusing to interview the most popular woman in the world on her show.  Well, it is her show, she can do as she please.  However, she is letting her political bias get in the way of what would surely go down as one of the most popular episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show in history.

Oprah has been a fake for many years.  She has acted like a proponent of women’s rights for many years, when in fact she is only ever concerned about enlarging her bank account and show ratings.  Oprah is missing out on a very large opportunity to host Palin and continue to introduce her to the United States.  It’s Oprah’s show and her right to not have Palin on her show. I just think it looks really bad, especially when she has received thousands of requests from her dedicated viewers.

Oprah’s ratings have been in decline the past year as she has gotten very political for the first time and supported Barack with money and in person with campaign apperances.

Oprah is always about $$$$ so don’t be surprised when she reverses field and we see Sarah Palin on the Oprah Winfrey show in the next month or so.

Related Sarah Palin News

• Who is Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin?
• Levi Johnston is Bristol Palin’s Baby Daddy
• Sarah Palin’s 17-Year Old Daughter Bristol is Pregnant
• Sarah Palin: Gun-Toting Bikini Babe (Photo)
• It’s Official: John McCain Tabs Sarah Palin for V.P.
• Live Blogging: Sarah Palin’s RNC Speech
• Heart Pissed at RNC’s Using “Barracuda” Song

Tom Cruise, who became the butt of countless jokes after jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch a couple of years ago, is set to return to the Oprah Winfrey Show next month during sweeps.

The show, which will appear in two parts during May sweeps, will celebrate Cruise’s career since his breakout role 25 years ago in Risky Business.

One part will be shot in-studio before a live audience. In the other, Cruise will show Winfrey around his Telluride mountain retreat and do a portion of the interview at the home.

Tune in to see the meeting of two people full of their differing religions.

The Oprah Winfrey Burial Mask will debut in Chicago April 24th, near Oprah’s Harpo Studios at GARDENfresh Gallery, courtesy of NYC’s Leo Kesting Gallery.

This is the same artist that created the Britney Spears Giving Birth on a Bearskin Rug sculpture.

“The Oprah Burial Mask depicts for the viewer a celebration of an inner beauty for which we could all aspire,” says gallery director David Kesting of the life-sized hollowed bust. “If we each imagined an object that represented us at our most ideal for all eternity, we might hold ourselves to the highest standards, both morally and spiritually.”

At first glance, I thought the mask was rather cool — then it became something a little more horrifying. I was waiting for the eyes to start shooting flames or something. But wait… that’s not the worst…

I then saw the nude statue below:

Insulting much? I pity the fool who digs this thing up, thinking he’s just found some sort of buried treasure.

source: [popbytes]; [leo kesting]

Controversial sculptor Daniel Edwards has unveiled his latest masterpiece called The Oprah Sarcophagus.  What do you think of his latest work? Flattering or insulting to Oprah?  Does this statute rival Michaelangelo’s David?

photo: TMZ/WENN

Publisher Nan Talese slams Oprah Winfrey for her ‘lack of basic manners’ and being ’sanctimonious’.

The clip is a bit dry (it’s CSPAN) but towards the end she gets around to slamming Winfrey for the way she used and turned on author James Frey.

The impeccable Oprah Winfrey made roughly $260 million dollars last year from her TV show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ and her production company HARPO.  Not bad for a girl from Tennessee.  Simon Cowell was second earning $45 million bucks.
Here is a look at the Top Five Salaries from TV:

TOP FIVE (all salaries are per year)

Oprah Winfrey (”The Oprah Winfrey Show”): $260 million

Simon Cowell (”American Idol”): $45 million

Judge Sheindlin (”Judge Judy”): $30 million

Katie Couric (”CBS Evening News Anchor”): $15 million

Zach Braff (”Scrubs”): $6.3 million

Students and parents of students from Oprah Winfrey’s newly opened school in South Africa are criticizing Oprah about the way her school is being run by administrators.

Cellphones and e-mail correspondence are out of bounds during the week, and girls are only allowed to phone their parents at weekends.

The maximum number of visitors per pupil is four, and visits have to be approved by the school at least two weeks in advance.

Mans said she had to wait at the security gate for half an hour to be signed in when she went to visit her daughter last Sunday.

“It was a nightmare. We had only two hours to see my child. Surely this isn’t a prison or an institution?”

The names of visitors must also match those on the security guard’s list before guests are allowed in.

Parents are not allowed to smuggle junk food in to the girls past the matrons.

“Then the girls lose points,” says Mans.

The girls get points for “good behaviour”, which they can exchange at a school shop for clothes and caps.

“The poor children are not even allowed to have any treats. Their diet is fruit, yoghurt and sandwiches. When they go on holiday for a month in April they’ll be stuffing themselves with sweets and chocolates in any case.”

Angela Conradie, whose daughter Michelle is at the school, says she’s just as upset about the strict visiting times.

“Michelle phones me in tears sometimes, and then I don’t know what to say to her,” says Conradie.

John Samuels, the executive head of the school, confirmed that only one visit a month would be allowed in future.

This means that if a girl has five siblings, she will only be able to see all of them over a period of three months.

Sounds a bit like sour grapes by those who have been given the opportunity to have their children educated at Oprah’s donated education institution. I am sure some of the complaints are valid. I am not sure if all sweets should be banned or if you should be given points for good behavior that can be rewarded for clothing. I mean all kids are not created equally and more psyche issues can be created when one sees their classmates with better clothes or caps. But by the looks of their uniforms above I would hope they could upgrade them at some point.

Many big things usually have a lot of kinks at first but they eventually get sorted out. I am not a huge fan of HARPO but give her and the administrators time to get the flaws worked out before condemning her good will.

Oprah Winfrey is finally moving in with long time beau Stedman Graham after twenty years of dating. Oprah has bought a new house and it looks like Stedman can finally quit paying for his own place.

Could this be the first step towards marriage?

Insiders tell Life & Style that Oprah and Stedman could finally be ready to walk down the isle. “At Oprah’s age she no longer feels she has to prove anything about being a strong single woman,” says one insider. “She’s happy to let Stedman have what he wants.â€?

While the rep downplays talk of nuptials, the insider says Chicago would be the frontrunner for the wedding location — and Oprah just bought the perfect love nest there: a $6 million, 5,000-square-foot apartment!

Stedman knows who wears the pants in his relationship with Oprah. He also is no idiot considering the hundreds of millions of dollars that Winfrey is worth.

Is this a move to try to halt the gay rumors that continue to grow about Oprah and Gayle? Twenty years with the same person without shacking up has to be a record……but does it tell even more about Harpo than meets the eye?