Cindy Crawford has called out Oprah Winfrey for her 1986 interview, in which the TV host asked the then-20-year-old model to stand up and show off her body to the audience.
In a new documentary on Apple TV+ titled “The Supermodels,” Crawford reflects on the interview, saying that she felt like she was being treated like “chattel” or “a child.”
“I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard,” Crawford says in the documentary. “When you look at it through today’s eyes, Oprah’s like … ‘Show us why you’re worthy of being here.'”
A clip from the 1986 episode shows a 20 year old Crawford appearing before Winfrey’s studio audience. Modeling agent John Casablancas, who founded Elite Modeling Agency, sat beside her for the interview.
Winfrey directed most of her questions about Crawford to Casablancas, who was her agent.
“So did you have to groom her?” Winfrey asks Casablancas in the clip. “Did she always have this body?”
The television host then prompts Crawford to “stand up just a moment” so the audience can look at her.
“This is what I call a body,” Winfrey says after Crawford rises and stands. The model soon after takes a seat and speaks up to say that contrary to what might have been said, she doesn’t weigh 100 pounds.
Crawford says that she didn’t realize at the time how inappropriate the interview was.
“Watching it back I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was so not OK really,'” she says. “Especially from Oprah!”
TODAY.com reached out to Winfrey. She and her team have not commented on this matter.
Following her 1986 appearance, Crawford would go on The Oprah Winfrey Show 10 more times. She was also featured as a guest on “Master Class,” which OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) aired in 2013.
Today.com writes: “The four-part docuseries debuted on Sept. 20 and pulled back the curtain on the modeling industry in the ‘80s. It features Crawford and fellow supermodels Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista reflecting on their early career stardom.”
'It was so NOT okay': Cindy Crawford blasts Oprah for treating her like 'CHATTEL' by demanding she show off her body on camera at age 20 to prove she was 'worthy' of fame – as supermodel opens up about regularly PASSING OUT from hunger on shoots pic.twitter.com/9oINGJMW6q
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