Oprah tells Stephen Colbert the thing she'll miss most about the Obamas


Stephen Colbert's first guest of 2017 was Oprah Winfrey, and he began Tuesday's Late Show by asking Oprah if she does New Year's resolutions. "Well, I stopped doing it — do you know why?" she said. "Because I used to have these really high goals for myself," citing her 2000 resolution to have "more courage." "You know, when you ask for courage, you get a whole lot of other stuff that's not," she said. "And if you ask for love, you get the opposite, because you have to show how you can love people in spite of their, you know, failings." "You're blowing my mind right now," Colbert said. "So I am just, like, chill — 'whatever you want, God, I'm okay with it,'" Winfrey said.
Colbert asked about Oprah's exit interview with first lady Michelle Obama, and was busted when it turned out he hadn't watched it, even though it was on his own network, CBS. The interview "was fun," Winfrey said, "though also a little bittersweet." She had done a similar interview in 2008, when Sasha and Malia Obama "were just like baby children," Winfrey said, and "the thing I'm going to miss the most — I actually said this, if you'd seen the interview you would have heard me say this.... the thing that I said to her that I'm really gonna miss is just the presence there." She brought up the Obama Christmas card, with the girls all grown up this year, "and for me, African-American woman," Oprah said, "being able to see that reflection of myself through the girls, and through her — just their presence there — I'm going to miss that, but it has meant so much to me."
Colbert asked Winfrey if Michelle Obama will ever run for office, and she gave an emphatic "never!" "Is there any other charismatic African-American woman that both sides of the political aisle really love....?" and Oprah shot that down with equal fervor. "Never!" she said, explaining that elected office is "not my thing." They ended with Winfrey's secret to taking good photos. Watch below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Gripping political thrillers to stream now
The Week Recommends From power struggles to deadly conspiracies, these addictive shows are nail-bitingly tense
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advice
the explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'
Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play