Entertainment | 05/20/2009 7:50 am

Anna Wintour Told Oprah to Lose Weight for Vogue Cover (Video)

Vogue editor ‘suggested’ talk-show queen Oprah slim down.

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

YouTube

"60 Minutes" last Sunday aired an in-depth interview with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, but it didn’t air everything: US Weekly passes on word that Wintour asked Oprah Winfrey to lose 20 pounds for her 1998 cover shoot. But the legendarily icy Wintour insists she wasn’t being cruel:

It was a very gentle suggestion. I went to Chicago to visit Oprah, and I suggested that it might be an idea that she lose a little bit of weight. I said simply that you might feel more comfortable. She was a trooper!

She totally welcomed the idea, and she went on a very stringent diet. And it was one of our most successful covers ever.

Wintour also defended how her magazine puts a premium on beauty. While the models are typically thin, she’s sure to point out that they often run articles on how to lose weight and maintain a diet. It isn’t about the image, she says, but about healthy living."We need to spend money, time and education on teaching people to eat, exercise and take care of themselves in a healthier way."

Read the rest of the piece over at US Weekly. And watch this clip discussing the segment.

Read more about: Anna Wintour, Health, News, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Video, Vogue, Vogue Cover, Weight

18 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

"yawn"!!!

By Libra Lady on 05/20/2009 8:13 am

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I saw the interview. Someone needs to remind Anna that she is no longer 22. Enough with the coy batting of the eyes.

By Maggie W on 05/20/2009 8:27 am

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Well, who else would have that kind of nerve and would be able to get away with making that kind of request?

By Green Tears on 05/20/2009 8:29 am

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Green, great point! If people didn’t eat like pigs, we would spend less on health care, have more respect for the starving people in the world, and see less "little houses" walking around!

By sibelle daubigne on 05/20/2009 12:38 pm

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Im tired of hearing about weight..She is what she is..Not a size 2! Does everyone on TV need to be a size 2?

By michele T on 05/20/2009 8:30 am

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here here! We dont have a size 2 here in Oz but I think the stick figure look is over!! Suggestions such as this are whats wrong with people today…and part of the reason we have anorexic 8 year olds…

By Jesse Lee on 05/21/2009 5:42 am

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OHHHHHH mind your own business Anna just because she’s not a size ZERO makes her a horrible person….your the reason that all these young kids are starving themselves to DEATH…her weight have nothing to do with the person she is and what she has done for her life as well as many others…..how about we pick you your page boy hair cut or you lip injections at least the bottom pouty one..I could be wrong but heck sure looks like you have had work done…try being your true self! Oprah as far as you and everyone else concerned is healthy and you don’t have to be SKINNY to be healthy….POprah works out, eats healthy and probably has more get up and go then people younger then many then her including those starving cover girls you think are wonderful….so MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

By L. P Sodano on 05/20/2009 8:32 am

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Oh puh-leeze…would you have added your photo if you were on the chunky side? We both know you wouldn’t have. This incident with Oprah happened nearly ten years ago and Oprah wanted that cover, so she was willing to do it. As would most of you. Vogue is what it is and no apologies. Go buy Red Book if you want another sensibility. Anna Wintour is no tougher than many of the women who write posts on this site. She knows her business and she is going to do it as she sees fit. What ipray tell is the problem with that? Americans are so hypocritical. Let somebody walk into your office and tell you how to do your job after you’ve been doing it 12-20 years… As someone probably older than Anna, I know I look back on my hard work and my understanding of what I do know, and I could care less what people say. Brava Anna! and by the way women on here making snarky remarks about another woman’s age? Shame on you!

By Victoria J on 05/20/2009 1:06 pm

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well guess what I am very much on the chunky side last time I check size 20 yes 20 is considered over weight!

By L. P Sodano on 05/20/2009 4:35 pm

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Ms. Wintour, here’s a gentle sugggestion since you love giving advice. Sit your bony butt down to a table and have a real meal for once in your life! … How does mashed potatoes dripping in butter, lots of delicious vegetables and a thick slice of meatloaf sound? Followed by a thick slice of apple pie and three scoops of vanilla ice cream with whipped cream and nuts and a diet coke(smile)?

Our youth are dying today because of so-called fashion experts! … Focus on your own health issues and leave America’s health to the experts not a bunch of ill persons suffering from self esteem and body issues!

By L. C. on 05/20/2009 9:36 am

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So your snarky remarks to Anna make you feel better? About what? And surprise, surprise, the fashion industry has less to do with dying youth than their own families. Being a parent,what the hell has Vogue magazine got to do with my children’s self esteem? Why would I allow it to mean anything to them? Parents are mostly responsible for how their children see themselves not Vogue Magazine covers. I suspect Anna Wintour doesn’t have health issues. You can be skinny and healthy, Duh! And if you have the money to have someone make your food for you even better. I am not sure why everybody feels so self satisfied taking a shot at Anna Wintour…All she really does is to continue a magazine doing what it has done for years…so why get your panties in a knot! Your rant makes no sense, but if it makes you feel better…

By Victoria J on 05/20/2009 1:15 pm

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Anna, don’t kid yourself, it was a successful cover because it was Oprah! It would have been successful even if she hadn’t lost the 20 lbs. Oprah has achieved so much and is such an inspiration to others, she sells magazines, despite not being a dry little twig.

By Lucinda Herbert on 05/20/2009 10:17 am

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I have been fascinated by Anna Wintour for years. She’s like some irreplaceable fashion icon that never wavers, never changes that elegant pixie persona which harbors cold steel in those veins. She’s been extremely successful and I imagine will go on for years to come. I cannot fathom being Anna. To be dressed and coiffed each and every day in order to parade your wares while poring over high fashion and giving her minions severe headaches because of her obsessive need for excellence is a way of life that would slowly but surely do me in. And given the meal above, I bet after the apple pie with the three scoops, Anna wouldn’t make it past her first sip of coke––THAT, I’m afraid, would do HER in.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 05/20/2009 10:34 am

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phyllis…that’s why they didn’t offer you the job!….now show me the same post to your garbage man. And, tell me why is her need for excellence obessive rather than a result of hard won experience? What is wrong with demanding excellence especially in this field that is seen by many as frivolous? Honey, a piece of pie with three scoops would do me in. Excess is completely unecessary. Take a bite of each and walk away. Guess you tend to do the pie and scoops…that explains everything doesn’t it darling:)

By Victoria J on 05/20/2009 1:24 pm