Cindy Crawford recalls cringe moment when Oprah Winfrey urged her to show off body on national television
Cindy Crawford recalls cringe moment when Oprah Winfrey urged her to show off body on national television
A clip of Cindy Crawford blasting Oprah Winfrey for making her show off her body on national television in 1986 has resurfaced.
On the show Oprah ogled the then 20-year-old model and said: ‘Did she always have this body?
‘Stand up just a moment – now this is what I call a body!’
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Cringe-worthy: Cindy Crawford’s comments blasting Oprah Winfrey for making her show off her body on national television in 1986 have resurfaced
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Nervous: Oprah had asked a then 20-year-old Cindy to showcase her frame mid-interview
The model, 59, hit out at the talk show host, 71, in the Apple TV+ docu-series, The Super Models, which aired in 2023, as she reflected on how she was forced to parade her body during her debut appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show decades prior.
In the segment from the 1980s Cindy proceeded to smile nervously as she stood up and allowed the audience – and viewers at home – to stare at her statuesque frame.
Reflecting on how she felt in that moment in The Super Models documentary, Cindy admitted: ‘I was like the chattel or a child, to be seen and not heard.
‘When you look at it through today’s eyes, Oprah’s like, “Stand up and show me your body. Show us why you’re worthy of being here.”‘
The mom-of-two continued: ‘In the moment I didn’t recognize it and watching it back I was like, “Oh my gosh, that was so not okay really.” Especially from Oprah!’
It is not known whether Oprah ever apologized for her comments.
Cindy had appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside her Elite Modeling Agency rep, John Casablancas.
During her appearance, Oprah directed several questions towards John who spoke on Cindy’s behalf.
When she quizzed John about whether the agency had to put the model through a ‘training period,’ he responded: ‘With Cindy, it was much more psychologically she was not sure she really wanted to model… little by little, her ambition is growing.
‘She’s getting a sense, and I’m saying it now on this program, if she wants to she can be number one in the business.’
John’s prediction certainly came true, but in the docu-series, Cindy highlighted just how hard she was working to make it during the early days of her career.
The former House of Style presenter admitted she would often ‘pass out’ from hunger during grueling shoot days.
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On the spot: During the interview, Oprah told the model: ‘Stand up just a moment. Now this is what I call a BODY’
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Early days: Cindy had made her first ever appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside her Elite Modeling Agency rep, John Casablancas
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Treated as property: Reflecting on how she felt in that moment, Cindy admitted: ‘I was like the chattel or a child, to be seen and not heard’
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Talk show star: It is not known whether Oprah ever apologized to Cindy for her comments
‘I was 20 years old, I had dropped out of college to model in Chicago and it was great. I was making $1,000 a day,’ she recalled.
‘The main business there was catalog. There was one main photographer, Victor Skrebneski, and he was the big fish in a little pond. Victor was definitely mentor in the fashion industry, when Victor said don’t move you didn’t move.’
Cindy continued: ‘I passed out there more than once.
‘Especially right before lunch, you pass out and you would faint. And then they would prop you back up and you would do it all over again.’
