Randolph Cook claims to have lived with Oprah Winfrey in Chicago between January and May 1985, a period he says was marked by drug use, the Chicago Tribune reported. After they went their separate ways, Cook sought to write about the experience. But Winfrey blocked him from doing so, prompting Cook to file a lawsuit against her in January 1998. “Upon notification of my intent to publish my life story, Ms. Winfrey expressed outrage to the disclosure of truth and fact,” Cook contended.
Cook sought $20 million on the grounds Winfrey slandered him by accusing him of lying. “I will fight this suit until I am bankrupt before I give even a penny to this liar,” the National Enquirer quoted Winfrey as saying, according to court documents. He also argued she caused emotional distress. “She threatened everyone involved with my intended publication, causing great financial loss,” he said. After filing, Cook amended the suit to include defamation and claims she interfered with prospective economic advantage.
The court dismissed the case, but some of its decisions were reversed on appeal. According to Kitty Kelley’s “Oprah: A Biography,” the case was set to go before a jury, but Cook dropped it before it got to that “at the behest of [my] dying mother.” In 2007, he published his account titled “The Wizard of ‘O’: My Life With Oprah, The L. Randolph Cook Interviews.” Winfrey claims she was never in a relationship with Cook.
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