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Oprah Winfrey to join ‘60 Minutes’

2/24/2017, 12:50 p.m.
Oprah Winfrey has been named a “special contributor” to CBS News’ “60 Minutes.” Ms. Winfrey will bring occasional reports to ...

Oprah Winfrey has been named a “special contributor” to CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”

Ms. Winfrey will bring occasional reports to the Sunday night television news magazine starting this fall, when it begins its 50th season on the air.

Executive producer Jeff Fager called Ms. Winfrey “a remarkable and talented woman with a level of integrity that sets her apart and makes her a perfect fit for ‘60 Minutes.’

“There is only one Oprah Winfrey,” he said in a statement issued late last month. “She has achieved excellence in everything she has touched. Her body of work is extraordinary, including thousands of interviews with people from all walks of life. I am thrilled that she will be bringing her unique and powerful voice to our broadcast.”


Ms. Winfrey said her aim with “60 Minutes” is to provide “insight and perspective.”

“At a time when people are so divided,” she said, “my intention is to bring relevant insight and perspective, to look at what separates us, and help facilitate real conversations between people from different backgrounds.”

For 25 years, Ms. Winfrey was host of her award-winning talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history.


While hosting and appearing on the No. 1 syndicated show, Ms. Winfrey founded her own production company, Harpo Productions, which developed many successful syndicated programs, including “Dr. Phil,” “The Dr. Oz Show” and “Rachael Ray.”

She also developed several motion pictures, including the recent award-winning “Selma,” in which she also had a featured role.


In 1985, Ms. Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple,” for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She earned critical acclaim in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and will appear in the upcoming HBO movie “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and the feature film adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time” from Disney.

In addition to founding OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and O, The Oprah Magazine, she joined the board of directors of Weight Watchers in 2015 after purchasing a 10 percent stake in the company and now stars in many of its commercials.



In 2011, in partnership with Discovery Communications, Ms. Winfrey founded OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and serves as its chairman and CEO.

The media mogul and philanthropist was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by former President Obama in 2013.