Oprah Winfrey Reacts To Taraji P. Henson's Viral Comments About Pay Concerns

Oprah Winfrey is shutting down the swirling rumors that she’s feuding with “The Color Purple” star Taraji P. Henson.

After Henson, 53, went viral for breaking down in tears last month over unfair pay disparities Black women face in Hollywood and claiming that she had to “fight” to get production to supply drivers to transport the cast to the film’s set, social media users began accusing the billionaire businesswoman of not intervening.

In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Winfrey, 69, who is also an executive producer on the musical film adaptation, opened up about the “whole Taraji thing” at the Golden Globes.

“I heard I was trending yesterday. People were saying I was not supporting Taraji,” Winfrey, who also starred as Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s original 1985 film adaptation based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, said. “Taraji will tell you herself that I’ve been the greatest champion of this film, championing not only the behind-the-scenes production but also everything that everybody needed.”

She continued, “Whenever I heard that there was something that people needed — I’m not in charge of the budget because that’s Warner Bros., that’s the way the studio system works, and we as producers, everybody gets their salary that’s negotiated by your team.”

Winfrey insisted to ET’s Kevin Frazer that anytime she “heard there was a problem with the cars” or concerns about “the food” on set, she would “step in and do whatever I could to make it right.”

Doubling down, she claimed that Henson “would vouch for that and say that it’s true.”

She added: “I am all for everybody being the greatest and meeting the rising of their own life.”

The former talk show host went on to address the gossip that she and the