Oprah Winfrey's India TV Special Slammed, Called "Ignorant" and More by Critics
by Alexis L. Loinaz Today 12:35 PM PDT
AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi
Looks like Oprah Winfrey's next chapter didn't have quite the happy ending.
The media queen has come under fire by members of the Indian community over a two-hour special about her recent trip to India that some observers claim was culturally insensitive.
Oprah Winfrey's Bodyguards Brawl With Indian Media
The special aired in the U.S. in April but only recently made its debut in India this past weekend.
In it, Winfrey chronicles her first visit to the country, where she makes stops everywhere from the Taj Majal to a Mumbai slum while also enjoying its vibrant culture at a string of luxurious bashes with local luminaries and Bollywood celebs.
The special, however, didn't seem to sit too well with critics, who lashed out at Winfrey for what they perceived to be a narrow and culturally reductive portrait of the country.
Aseem Chhabra, a reporter for the Mumbai Mirror, told ABC News, "It's all the stereotypes and all the clichs the West has, between the elephants and the palaces and the snake charmers and cowsI think I expected a lot more from somebody like Oprah Winfrey."
Oprah Winfrey to Appear on Keeping Up With the Kardashians
Several viewers seemed to take umbrage with Winfrey's supposedly! "gee-wh iz" approach to the special, in which she expresses surprise that some locals eat with their handsa common cultural practiceas well as her remarks about the minuscule size of a family's home at a Mumbai slum.
"Myopic, unaware, ignorant and gauche," wrote journalist Rajyasree Sen in a scathing review of the show posted by the India-based news service Firstpost.com. "This was Middle America at its best worst."
In a statement, a rep for Winfrey's production company, HARPO, told E! News: "The intention of the program was to explore the beautiful culture and spirit of the country.We enjoyed the time we spent there and were touched by the people who so generously shared their stories for the show."
The TV special wasn't already without its controversy, even when Oprah was shooting it back in January: A member of her security team reportedly got into a scuffle with local Indian reporters.
Police subsequently detained three of Winfrey's security guards, who were released after they wrote a letter of apology to the media.