Seal Clarifies Comments Against Oprah Winfrey, Says He Has ‘Enormous’ Respect For Her

After throwing fiery words against Oprah Winfrey, British musician Seal is now raising the white flag. In a new Facebook video, the 54-year-old singer explained that his comments were in no way a direct attack on the award-winning host.

The Telegraph reported that Seal went on the social media platform to apologize, albeit indirectly, to Oprah for his harsh comments. In the video, he stated he did not mean to attack the celebrated media personality when he spoke against the “hypocritical nature of Hollywood.” Rather, he stated that it was a mere personal observation of how toxic the entertainment industry is.

“Let me start by start by saying that I have an enormous amount of respect for everything that Oprah has achieved and contributed in her life,” Seal reportedly said.

“What I re-posted was not an attack on Oprah at all, she just happened to be the person photographed with the pig [Weinstein] in the picture. What I re-posted was a commentary on the hypocritical and double standard nature and behavior of Hollywood.”

It can be remembered that Seal posted a controversial meme on his Instagram account shortly after Oprah Winfrey’s triumphant speech at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards. In her address, Oprah passionately spoke about equality in line with the evening’s Time’s Up movement.

The meme shows a pair of photos of Oprah hanging out with disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexually abusing several women in the industry. On top of the photos is the text that reads, “When you have been part of the problem for decades, but suddenly they all think you are the solution.”

Seal added a caption, in his own words, to his post. He implied that Oprah knew about Weinstein’s affairs all along but did nothing.

“Oh I forgot, that’s right…..you’d heard the rumours but you had no idea he was actually serially assaulting young starry-eyed actresses who in turn had no idea what they were getting into. My bad. #SanctimoniousHollywood”

In his FB video, Seal clarified that he did not create the meme but only re-posted it in order to start a social awareness dialogue. He also criticized reporters who he said are capitalizing on his quotes. He particularly called out Fox News commentator Stacey Dash, who re-tweeted a report about the meme.

“Stacey Dash, keep my name out of your mouth. Do not re-tweet [or] re-quote anything I said in order to reinforce your self-hating agenda,” the singer continued.

“Don’t try and use me as a pawn against Oprah, or any of your political games.”

Seal concluded by saying that he, too, supports the Me Too/Time’s Up movement. He lamented how those who have been accused of sexually harassing women have not been given real justice and punishment.

“Losing yor job because you’ve either a) raped or b) sexually abused or sexually harassed a woman is not real punishment,” the “Kiss From A Rose” singer said.

https://www.facebook.com/Seal/videos/10155415316727675/

Meanwhile, other people have also come out to criticize Oprah Winfrey after her Globes speech. According to Fox News, a 75-year-old retired nurse by the name of Juanita Broaddrick stated in her tweet that she has been raped by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, a close friend of Oprah.

“Hey Oprah, funny I’ve never heard you mention my name. Can you hear me now? Guess not. My rapist was/is your friend, Bill Clinton,” Broaddrick wrote, tagging the host in her tweet.

Family Guy creator and actor Seth MacFarlane also took to Twitter to express concern over the clamor for Oprah Winfrey to run for the presidency in 2020. He stated that having a reality show star (Trump) running against a talk show host is “troublingly dystopian.”

“We don’t want to create a world where dedicated public service careers become undesirable and impractical in the face of raw celebrity,” the actor wrote.

So far, Oprah Winfrey has not responded to any of these comments.