Oprah Winfrey sets the record straight on a recent tabloid story which claimed she was "ambushed" by her "secret son" named Calvin Mithcell outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York earlier this month. In an interview with ET, Oprah explains her relationship with Calvin and what really happened that night.
"I met Calvin around the early '90s, I think it was 1992. I was doing a film for television called 'There Are No Children Here'," Oprah speaking to ET, confirming that Calvin is not her birth son. "We were shooting in the projects in Chicago and I was sitting on set during a break, and this cute little sparkly-eyed boy came underneath the yellow tape to hand me a soda." "I was so charmed by him that I started talking to him about his family, his school life, and found out that he was in a situation where his mother didn't have a job and they were stuck in the projects," she continues.
Oprah went to explain that she took it upon herself to help
the family move out of the projects, find employment for Calvin's mother, and
enroll Calvin in a local private school. When the principal called to inform
her that Calvin hadn't been attending class, Oprah and her partner, Stedman
Graham, paid the family a visit. The family told her that they weren't able
to wake up on time to get Calvin to school.
"We realized they don't have any clocks in the
house," she said. "We went out, Stedman and I, went to K-Mart that
moment, got a bag full of clocks, came back to the house, taught them how to
set the alarm and all that."
Oprah said that Calvin was eventually expelled from the
school.
At the age of 16, Calvin told Oprah that he couldn't stay at boarding school
because "the teachers didn't like him." Oprah recalls
telling Calvin, "I said, 'Calvin, this is the moment. This is a seminal
moment for you. I know you are 16 and can't see the road ahead, but if you
leave this school and refuse to get an education - I have tried to offer you an
education twice - there isn't another school I can put you in. If you leave
this school, I am done. There is nothing else I can do.' ... And that was my
last conversation with Calvin in the early '90s."
When Oprah met Calvin again in New York after a taping of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" earlier this month, she didn't immediately recognize him but tried to contact him afterwards. Oprah had already suspected that Calvin told his story to tabloids.
"I could see the little boy in his eyes, even though time has changed a lot for him, and I said to him, 'What are you doing? Why did you go to the tabloids?' " she recalls, "As I left, and he was looking so forlorn, he was like, 'Can I speak to you?' So I said to somebody on my team, 'Will somebody get Calvin's number so I can contact him later?' "
"I didn't realize the whole thing was a setup. When I realized the whole thing was a setup, I was no longer interested in speaking to him," she continues, noting that she's not hurt, but "disappointed."
In an interview with Radar Online earlier this month, Calvin, now 35, claimed Oprah tried to adopt him as a boy, but then abandoned him as a teen. "We had a close relationship," Calvin said, "Oprah and Stedman were like family to me."
Calvin said he went into deep depression after allegedly being abandoned. "I want to ask Oprah, 'Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me?' " he told the site, "I'm still empty. I'm still searching. I don't have closure to this. I just don't understand."
_ET
When Oprah met Calvin again in New York after a taping of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" earlier this month, she didn't immediately recognize him but tried to contact him afterwards. Oprah had already suspected that Calvin told his story to tabloids.
"I could see the little boy in his eyes, even though time has changed a lot for him, and I said to him, 'What are you doing? Why did you go to the tabloids?' " she recalls, "As I left, and he was looking so forlorn, he was like, 'Can I speak to you?' So I said to somebody on my team, 'Will somebody get Calvin's number so I can contact him later?' "
"I didn't realize the whole thing was a setup. When I realized the whole thing was a setup, I was no longer interested in speaking to him," she continues, noting that she's not hurt, but "disappointed."
In an interview with Radar Online earlier this month, Calvin, now 35, claimed Oprah tried to adopt him as a boy, but then abandoned him as a teen. "We had a close relationship," Calvin said, "Oprah and Stedman were like family to me."
Calvin said he went into deep depression after allegedly being abandoned. "I want to ask Oprah, 'Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me?' " he told the site, "I'm still empty. I'm still searching. I don't have closure to this. I just don't understand."
_ET
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