Celebrity chef reveals Oprah Winfrey ‘smacked’ her twice after she gave a speech: "She was kind of..."
When you think of Oprah Winfrey, you think of wisdom, influence, and maybe even a free car or two. But a smack? Well, according to celebrity chef Ina Garten, that’s exactly what she got—not once, but twice—after she delivered a speech in 2010. And honestly? She admits Winfrey was right to do it. Garten, best known as the ‘Barefoot Contessa,’ once opened up about this shocking moment during an episode of ‘Radio Cherry Bombe.’ The incident, which she also detailed in her memoir, ‘Be Ready When the Luck Happens,’ took place at the famous New York Women In Communications Matrix Awards in 2010.
As per People magazine, that night, Garten was being honored alongside big names like Sheryl Crow and Tina Fey. But what made the night unforgettable was her seatmate—Winfrey, who was there to introduce her longtime best friend, Gayle King. Each honoree was given just 90 seconds to deliver their acceptance speech. Garten recalled, “...is about all I can handle without having a total meltdown…And I basically said I’d been really lucky in my life and I sat down…And [Winfrey] smacked me on the arm in front of like 2,000 people and said, ‘You make your own luck.’” Still unconvinced, Garten doubled down, insisting that luck played a major role in her success. Garten remarked, “I said, ‘Well, I actually had been incredibly lucky.’ And then she smacked me again…And I was like, ‘Okay.’”
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Back then, Garten may have been shocked by Winfrey’s unexpected reaction, but years later, she sees the wisdom in it. She asserted, “Many years later when I was writing this memoir, I thought, ‘She was kind of right.’ I had done the work. I have to give her credit. She was right.” So much so that Winfrey’s words actually inspired the title of her memoir. Now, this is where things get even more interesting. After the story from Garten’s memoir went viral, Winfrey herself reflected on the incident during an episode of ‘The Oprah Podcast.’ Winfrey exclaimed, “I didn’t remember that it was the Matrix Awards, but I remember having a discussion… and I didn’t remember slapping you…I don’t remember slapping you.”
Winfrey further added, “In my mind, you were already an iconic figure and a powerful woman. In your acceptance speech, you mentioned luck and luck and luck. I come from the belief that luck is preparation meeting the moment of opportunity.” In another slap saga, Hip-hop mogul Suge Knight, known for his intimidating reputation, once made a shocking revelation—he used to literally slap people in prison for bad-mouthing Winfrey, as reported by HipHopdx.
Knight remarked, “I remember back in the day, doing time, when people said something bad about Oprah Winfrey. Shit, I got in their ass…You talking about this Black woman. I fried their shit up, slapped the shit out them — ‘Don’t say nothing about this Black sister.’” Yes, you read that correctly. Knight, the man behind Death Row Records, was out here defending Winfrey’s honor with actual slaps.