Oprah is opening up about the painful childhood trauma that still haunts her on the latest episode of her self-titled podcast.
The 71-year-old mogul â who recently celebrated her birthday â was reduced to tears while discussing her strained relationship with her late mother Vernita Lee, who died in 2018.
Oprah was joined by American psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Perry, senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy in Houston, Texas, and began discussing her own personal pain after a woman called Annie dialed into the podcast to discuss her difficult relationship with her family.Â
Oprah recalled her struggle to come up with something positive to say about her mom when she was invited to speak about her at a church.
‘I had been asked to come to church to give all these accolades about my mother and I couldn’t think of one thing,’ she explained while choking up.
The best positive memory the former talk show host could think of was: ‘She didn’t abort me. She did the best that she knew.’Â
Oprah broke down in tears while discussing her childhood trauma on the latest episode of her self-titled podcastÂ
Oprah, full name Oprah Gail Winfrey, emphasized, ‘The best that she knew was not enough to feed what I needed, was not enough to make me feel whole.’
She added, ‘…Was not enough to make me feel valued or seen or important to her. It was not. But it was the best that she could do, and I gave up the hope that it could have been anything other than what she had.’
The media veteran received an outpouring of support from fans and friends who were moved by her vulnerability.
One person wrote in the comments, ‘Decades passed. Billions earned. And this still brought her to tears. Parents need to understand and appreciate that what they do and say stays with children FOREVER.’
The statement has racked up more than 4,000 likes from agreeing followers.Â
Actress Holly Robinson Peete was among those who had a heartfelt reaction to the excerpt.
She wrote, ‘WowâĤ this is why we love Oprah. Because she shares and articulates things so well and so intentionally that so many could never express properly.’
In late 2018 Oprah was candid about the emotional final moments she spent with her mother Vernita at her home in Milwaukee on Thanksgiving Day.
At the time, she shared with People magazine that she initially struggled to find the right words while saying goodbye.
The 71-year-old mogul was reduced to tears while discussing her strained relationship with her late mother Vernita Lee, who died in 2018
Oprah pictured with her mom in 2015
‘In hospice care they have a little book about the little conversations,’ she said. ‘I thought, “Isnât this strange? I am Oprah Winfrey, and Iâm reading a hospice care book on what to say at the end.”‘Â
‘She’s sitting in this little room â she loves sitting in this room where it’s 80 degrees. She just watches TV all day,’ she described.Â
Oprah went on to share, ‘What I said was, “Thank you. Thank you, because I know itâs been hard for you. It was hard for you as a young girl having a baby, in Mississippi. No education. No training. No skills. Seventeen, you get pregnant with this baby. Lots of people would have told you to give that baby away. Lots of people wouldâve told you to abort that baby. You didnât do that. I know that was hard. I want you to know that no matter what, I know that you always did the best you knew how to do. And look how it turned out.”‘
After Vernita gave birth to Oprah in 1954, she left the infant to be raised by her own mother Hattie Mae Lee in Mississippi, while she worked away from home in Milwaukee as a housemaid.
Oprah was six when she first went to live with her mother, after her grandmother became ill. She was later raped and abused by family friends, who have not been publicly identified, while living with her mother in Milwaukee.
Oprah recalled her struggle to come up with something positive to say about her mom when she was invited to speak about her at a church; pictured in 1994
In late 2018 Oprah was candid about the emotional final moments she spent with her mother Vernita at her home in Milwaukee on Thanksgiving DayÂ
The future billionaire moved to Nashville to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey, permanently in 1968 after she became pregnant at age 14. She gave birth to a son, who died when he was just a week old.
After thanking her mother for doing the best she could, Oprah told her that she ‘should go in peace,’ explaining that her mother had diabetes and could have had dialysis three years prior, but chose not to do it.
She told the publication, ‘I said, “You made the best decision for you, but now your bodyâs shutting down. This is whatâs happening. Your kidneys have shut down. Your organs are going to shut down. What you want it to be, what I want it to be, is as peaceful as possible.”‘
And the Color Purple star advised, ‘I would say to anybody â and if you live long enough, everybody goes through it â say the things that you need to say while the people are still alive, so that you are not one of those people living with regret about what you wouldâve, shouldâve, couldâve said.’
