Oprah Winfrey had her high-profile interview with John Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter this afternoon. It comes as a bit of an anticlimax in the wake of GQ‘s profile of her from last month, if only because a lot of Hunter’s more gossipy bombshells about the endlessly sordid tale of her affair with the one-time presidential candidate have been picked over by now. Still, it made for some compelling TV to watch Oprah walk the line between sympathetic listener and skeptical inquisitor.
As in the GQ interview, Hunter had an endless supply of New-Age nuggets about helping Edwards find “his authentic self” and “live a life of truth.” What struck me as I was watching was how — dare I say — Oprah-esque Hunter often sounded when it came to spirituality. Still, under Oprah’s firm questions, it was not hard to see the limits of Hunter’s brand of mysticism, when anything Edwards did, no matter how unethical or sleazy or dishonest, could be explained away as just another step on a person’s path to enlightenment. I couldn’t help thinking back to a Salon post I’d read post-GQ that defended Hunter, not because the writer thought she was misunderstood or sympathetic, but because Hunter just sounded so dreadfully, terribly naive. Among the Oprah highlights (or, I guess, lowlights, depending on your point of view):
*Hunter revealed that Edwards knew she was pregnant when he renewed his vows with wife Elizabeth Edwards. Oprah asked what she thought about that and Hunter defended him by saying, “I understood where he was in his process.”
*Hunter maintains that Edwards was calm and gracious when she told him that she was pregnant in the middle of his presidential campaign. (Oprah responded with an incredulous “C’mon” to that one.)
*The only thing Hunter regrets is letting Edwards aide Andrew Young temporarily claim he was her baby’s father. (This was the point in the interview when Oprah called her “Miss Spirituality.”)
*Hunter confirms that there was a sex tape that was made in “the heat of the moment.” She also said that she thought she had destroyed the tape by pulling it apart, but that someone had reassembled the remains.
*She won’t confirm if she and Edwards are now together, though she does get financial support and says that she’s still in love with him.
*She really regrets the GQ photo spread that featured her on a bed wearing a white men’s shirt and no pants. (So for the record: Sex tapes and pant-less photo shoots are never a good idea.)
What did you think of the interview? Was Oprah tough enough? Did it change your opinion of Hunter at all?
Unbelievable! Authentic self, life of truth, complete honesty is how she describes how she lives life; except when she felt a magnetic pull with Edwards. She rationalized every hypocritical action that did not reflect her new age life of truth. She came off as somewhat off balance, unrealistic, self absorbed and not truthful. She is delusional and they deserve each other!
Why I paid attention to this i dunno – but seriously?? Could she have set John E up any more in the most obvious ways? Calling him hot, going to his hotel room with no reservation (pun intended) getting knocked up, making a sex tape – is he that stupid? She is you typical whore
Are you saying that she coerced John Edwards? As if he didn’t have any free will in the situation?
I agree Whore
I love that John Edwards’ VIDEOGRPAHER didn’t realize that tape can be put back together. He might be a narcissistic piece of work, but make no mistake – he got PLAYED.
Some authentic self, lying to everyone all the time.
She excuses every bad thing she and Edwards did by couching it all int terms of “life’s journey” and what you learn from it and all that new age crap. She committed adultery with a married man. Make no mistake, he is MORE guilty than she is. He is the one who took vows of fidelity to Elizabeth; Hunter didn’t, but she did engage in an affair with a man she knew was married. Although I was curious about Hunter, I am amazed by Edwards. I wish he would give an interview with Oprah. He lied and lied and thought he would get away with it. What a narcissist!
What a tasteless sad person. I feel so sorry for the child who is going to be brought up in that mess. Elizabeth Edwards is lucky to away from him. Too bad and what a sad story.
Attention WHORE!!
Her and Oprah ofcourse.
agreed.
THIS!
Nasty
I couldn’t finish watching the interview or should I say I was just disgusted with it all. I really had no opinions of Rielle either way but watching part of the interview, I just wanted to slap her. I agree with couple comments above. She is delusional, self absorbed and tasteless.
I agree. whore SHAMELFULL
I have often wondered where shame has gone these days. Shame was when if you had an illicit affair with a married man, you tried your best to hide it. You didn’t own it, as if it was some proud badge to wear. You denied it and then when you admitted it, you apologized. You apologized to the one’s that were hurt the most by the affair: their significant other, their children. You don’t say things like: He wasn’t something to buy, he wasn’t owned. You don’t say that to justify entering into an affair with a married man. You, as a filmmaker, don’t make the assumption that cutting a tape in half destroys it. You don’t, as a woman, a true woman, pursue a married man. I wish shame was back. I wish shame would make a HUGE comeback.
I have wondered the same thing recently. From all the Tiger Woods women, to the Jessie James woman no one seems the be ashamed of themselves. For this woman to go on television and say that she doesn’t know if Elizabeth Edwards was hurt, give me a break. Own up to your actions and admit that you hurt her and their children.
Not only do that lack shame but they don’t seem to have a problem capitalizing off of it. Rielle is in GQ and on Oprah. Several of Tiger’s mistresses hire Gloria Allred to represent them. C’mon! When shame makes a comeback I will be rolling out the red carpet.
I agree with everything you said. These women (and men) have no morals, so therefore they have no shame. The sad thing is the ones who feel shamed are the wives. How fair is that? It makes me sick that these women come forward as if they were the victims, and ask the public for sympathy. The adultry is hard enough for the wife and the kids, then these skanks come forward and it causes additional pain for the family.
I agree completely.
this woman continues to come across as an idiot.
She is DISGUSTING. Any woman who goes after a married man is a whore.
Who cares what the Ho and her Ho-Master think about anything. Oprah wasted her time on this one.
LOL! “Ho-Master.”
I don’t like her, but she is NOT the one who was married. John Edwards is the sleazy, slimy guy who said to her “here’s my hotel # and meet me up there tonight.” Let’s be angry at the cheater, please!
Honestly, they deserve eachother in my mind. What egos between the two of them!
If you have sex with someone else’s spouse, you ARE a cheater.
How can you cheat on someone you didn’t make a commitment to? Please.
Say what you will about Hunter, but she did not “cheat” on Elizabeth. That would be scumbag “Johnny.”
Evie sounds like someone who has had an affair with a married man (or woman).
It may not make you a cheater, but it does make you a bad, selfish human being. You just don’t do that to another person, period.
yup, side pieces always try to justify their actions by saying “I’m not the one who made the vows”. Both are disgusting.
It takes two to tango. Both of them are wrong. So I’m angry at the cheater and the cheatee. She knew he was married so she’s no saint either. They are both trash.
Both Edwards and Hunter are cheaters and liars. They must have been so drawn to each other because they are both sleazebags.
No one absolves him by rightfully blaming her for her part in the affair. His blame is inherently recognized, since he was the one who made the commitment. But Hunter won’t take responsibility for the effect her actions have had on another person, and that makes people angry with her. The relationship she had with Edwards was inappropriate, even if she was invited by him and especially if she wasn’t the one making the commitment. It’s about respect for yourself and others, as well as being a decent and compassionate person.
Nicely put.
Oh for Gods sake. She is a whore who screwed a married man for money. and apparently fame. People are making excuses for her because….. why???
Incredibly narcissistic- she is trying very hard to come off as a different character than the Andrew Young book, but instead of proving herself to be “enlightened” and “driven by her heart,” she comes off as glaringly selfish and unwilling to admit ANY wrongdoing or responsibility. It makes me sick when people defend their inadequacies by saying that they “follow their heart”- use your damn head, lady. It’s there for a reason. Oprah was too kind.
Listening to this whore call Johnny you lover is such a denial of the truth so she canlive her life of BS. What a joke Johnny was as a Pres. candidate
Oh, and by the way? You KNOW she’s on here reading what people thought of her. Hi, Rielle!
She really needs to stay out of the media… For the sake of her kid, if nothing else.
I was a believer of John Edwards during the campaign.I’m disgusted. Reille Hunter knew John was married. I don’t feel sorry for Reille . She is sleezy. She’ll do anything to destroy a family and get money. Elizabeth is a strong woman.I hope she’ll take Edwards to the cleaners and does not leave anything for the mistress.
I totally agree. I was also a Edwards supporter during the campaign and I just can’t stand the circus this has turned into because of this ridiculous woman. The way she justifies everything with new-agey crap is just more than what m stomach can handle. It’s just morbid how this attention whore seems to be just waiting for Elizabeth to succumb to cancer. And blaming Elizabeth for emasculating “Johnny”! I can’t stand it!
This turned into a circus because John Edwards was a fraud, a liar, a cheat, and narcissitic beyond belief. He is the one the deserves the brunt of the blame here.
IJohnnie? WHORE?