Oprah is embarking on a national self help tour starting this September called The Life You Wanted Weekend. Prices range from $99 to $999 if you want to meet Oprah. Some of Oprah’s favorite self help gurus will be there including Deepak Chopra, Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love, and pastor Rob Bell. The tour will start with eight cities including Washington DC, San Jose and Miami, and will expand to more depending on if it’s successful. The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop. I’ve cut out some of the insider business details, but the gist is that Oprah is going on tour. She also has a new book coming out in September called What I Know for Sure. Clever Oprah.
Starting in September, Winfrey will set out on an eight-city Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend tour. The plan: pack 18,000-seat arenas for a two-day experience featuring a keynote by Winfrey, who will share her personal story and advice on Friday night, and group activities and speakers picked by her on Saturday. Among those signed to participate: Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, pastor Rob Bell, OWN star Iyanla Vanzant and, in certain cities, guru Deepak Chopra.
“There’s no question that Oprah’s supreme gift is connecting with an audience,” says OWN president Sheri Salata of the impetus for the tour, which will allow Winfrey to interact with her fans in a way she hasn’t since she ended her daily Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011. She will make tour stops in Atlanta; Auburn Hills, Mich.; Houston; Miami; Newark, N.J.; Seattle; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, with tickets starting at $99 and rising to $999 for VIP packages that can include meeting Winfrey. (Tickets will go on sale April 7 on a relaunched Oprah.com.)
Winfrey tells THR a domestic tour has been atop her “bucket list” since she finished a speaking circuit in Canada in early 2013. Although Life You Want will be much larger in scale, her message remains the same. “It’s about living the life you want, because a great percentage of the population is living a life that their mother wanted, that their husband wanted, that they thought or heard they wanted,” says Winfrey, adding that she will use the platform to push themes of “empowerment, resilience and authenticity.”
It sounds like a great idea actually. People still want to buy what Oprah is shilling and the self help market is incredibly lucrative. I think Oprah overshot her mark by trying to launch an entire network. She’s way off message by giving a reality show to Lindsay Lohan. By getting back to her core message she’ll be able to drum up more interest in OWN and remind the public what she’s about. Tours are the way that musicians bring in the big bucks. It makes sense that Oprah’s tour would do incredibly well.
As for the question in the title: no, I would not pay $1,000 to meet Oprah. I would shell out $100 to see her speak live though, as long as it only lasted a couple of hours and was convenient for me. (I would not take up an entire weekend with that, I can only take so much self help talk.) I know what Oprah’s message is, and I’ve heard her and so many others say it in slightly different ways. I still have a lot of affection for her and there’s something exhilarating about going to an event like that. Plus, I did pay $40 to see Wayne Dyer speak once. Yes he’s a bit strange and I don’t believe in all his new age mumbo jumbo, but he’s charismatic and I was definitely entertained.
photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
Q: Would I pay $1,000.00 to meet Oprah and her self-help gurus?
A: No.
Bless her heart.
Would I? No.
I’ll give that $1,000 to Sallie Mae. She’s the best help–credit score help.
Deepak Chopra thinks that AIDS sings a song that lures DNA to it’s destruction so no, I don’t need advice from him at all.
LOL! I hadn’t heard that. Oprah kind of lost me with the whole “Secret” thing. I was curious and actually bought the book… and laughed… and laughed.
What? For real?
“Chopra has described the AIDS virus as emitting “a sound that lures the DNA to its destruction” and which can be treated, according to Chopra, with “Ayurveda’s primordial sound”” (Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 2003)
If she wants my money. I want to hear about the crazy tales of past guest mishaps… from her original Oprah Show.
So maybe if one of her producers, ever got the need to tell tales… I am there!
In regards to self help gurus, I don’t know anyone doing it better right now than Iyanla Vanzant. Every sentence of hers just speaks to your soul. Joel Osteen is a second favorite of mine, but that’s it. I wouldn’t pay $1,000 to meet Oprah or anyone else for that matter. I like Oprah, but I’m chea… “frugal.” 😉
Word. Love Iyanla.
Pffft. I need Oprah’s money not the other way around.
Would I pay ANY money to meet Oprah and her army of pseudoscientific quacks? Hell no. I wouldn’t want to meet any of them if they paid me $1,000.
$1000? No, I wouldn’t pay.
And you wouldn’t pay! And you wouldn’t pay! And you wouldn’t pay! And you wouldn’t pay! Everybody on CB wouldn’t pay!!!!!
HAHAHA! Too funny.
I’d rather use the $1000 to wipe my botticello
No, I could think of better ways to spend my money.
Not in a million years. A $1k would be better spent donated to a charity of my choosing.
Not 99, not a 1000. As Blue said, she can help me out.
Confession: I went to see Oprah on her Living Your Best Life tour a few years ago. It was motivating. The most exciting part was the feeling in that auditorium, especially building up to her coming onstage. It was almost all women, and everybody was smiling and excited, and then they started to play I’m Every Woman, and I can’t describe the positive energy and love in that room when she came out onto the stage. It was very uplifting. She’s really tiny, by the way. I probably wouldn’t go again, because I saw it more as a one time thing, but if you like her (and I know most people on here don’t) I’d recommend it. I left feeling motivated to live my life more fully and authentically and all those buzzwords that I laugh at but sort of take seriously.
Yeah….but when you look at the Winfreys and the Osteens of the world, what does it all amount to? It’s an emotional high that is not enriching in any deep way and that gets you nowhere in the end. These people line their pockets, live in 17,000 square foot mansions (Osteen) with 50 bathrooms (Winfrey) and then go home richer. You go home needing another injection of emotional insanity because your brain can’t sustain that stuff forever.
I agree overall. It was fun, and I enjoyed the experience, and I don’t regret it but I can’t say that it changed my life in any meaningful way. I disagree that I ended up needing more. I was satisfied after just one. I guess I was curious to see what it was like, but it’s not really something I need to do again.
I don’t like Joel O. The message I get from him is that if you open your heart to Christ, you’ll get rich. I think he’s missing the point entirely. But I see how you could put them in the same category generally.
Btw, I think it cost about $75 when I went, not $1000.
All they provide is warm fuzzies. Afterwards, you’re on your own in your bedsit and she’s off to her mansion in paradise, surrounded by servants.
Do people still want to buy what Oprah is shilling?? I think most people are over Oprah and telling us all how we should live…with her gajillion’s of dollar, she is just not relatable to me…I don’t have time to sit on top of a mountain and meditate, I’m too busy trying to figure out who can take my kids, because the babysitter bailed and if I miss one more day of work, I’ll be fired….I have “real life” problems…
No I would not pay a cent for Oprah and her posse. Not shading her team, but this sounds to me like an “Oprah Needs To Be In The Limelight” kind of thing and I tired of her long ago. Kinda reminds me of when she got on stage with Tina Turner. Be happy with what you got, girl.
No way, got student loans that would be much more important to pay if I had a random grand…
If I had 1000 laying around with nothing else to use it for . . . I might. Call me crazy but I kind of want Oprah to tell me I’m just living my truth but at the same time, to cut the bullshit.
I wanna meet Dr. Phil, James Arthur Ray – the Sweat lodge guru and the people behind The Secret. Nyahaha.
Nope, I would rather use that money towards a great vacation.
No way, personally. But I bet she will sell a lot of tickets, and if people go and enjoy it, great.
“Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert” – OMG I hated that book with a passion. Completely whiny and totally self-absorbed – I would pay $ to keep her from imparting that kind of wisdom on anyone.
Thank you Lucy! Whiny, self-absorbed, self-sabotaging narcissistic crap. We’d all be better off if there were far fewer humans who looked at the world as myopically as the Eat Pray Love author.
Oh, how I wanted to slap her! Every section of the book became more and more obnoxious and self-centered and conceited. Gag me.
Never read it. Good rule of thumb is when massive amounts of ppl are reading a particular book, it’s 9/10 times really crappy.
My eyes were twitching the entire time I read that book. Mostly, I just felt sorry for her husband. I mean, she agreed to their ‘life plan’ i.e. quitting her job at 30, and having kids, etc years before they were even going to happen, gave every indication that she was happy with the way things were going, and then all of a sudden decides that she needs to leave her husband (instead of trying to come to a compromise/work it out) just like that? Seriously? I guess it’s good that she left before they could have kids, but still. I hated that book with a passion. It was just so boring and ugh….
I know, and she felt SO sorry for herself over it, waaahhh, poor me, I felt trapped, my husband is all mean to me just because I came home one day and said, nah, I don’t want to be married anymore. I want to travel. Boo hoooo, poor me. I wanted to yank her bald headed.
Would I? Nope. Not a chance. But then, the whole ‘self-help’ thing always confuses me. If the idea is to pull yourself up to where you want to be, how is paying someone else to build the ladder AND show you where/how to climb it ‘self-help’? And while optimism does have it’s payout, some things require a whole lot LESS navel gazing and pep-talks while staring yourself earnestly in the face in a mirror and more, you know, hard sweat, tears, blood and work.
And if I’m getting myself OUT of a bad place or pulling myself UP to where I wanna be, why in god’s name would I waste my money, energy or time with a bunch of navel gazers? Not even if Oprah was giving cars away again would I go. The woman – and her endless litany of ra-ra teammates makes my teeth itch.
Oh, my dear, here’s the secret: It’s ‘self-help’ for those collecting your cash.
Notice is says for the $999 package it “can” include meeting her. Nice little sneaky way of getting more money, but still with no guarantee to actually meet her. Ha. What a joke!!!
I would never support an audacious hypocrite who claims that her stock and trade is the empowerment and well-being of women, but who has made tens of millions of dollars off one guy alone who had his psych license pulled for perpetrating a sexual relationship with a teen patient whom he groomed. I mean please. Find me someone other than Winfrey who gets away with this level of BS and is still a media darling.
I don’t know about this – who was the man?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_McGraw
The license was revoked but the sexual relationship wasn’t included in the board’s findings.
Omg – Dr. Phil? I had no idea! My mouth is hanging open. That’s terrible!
What about the dude and the sweat chambers where a participant actually died? Wasn’t he given a push by the mighty O too?
She has a lot of nerve to assume that SHE KNOWS how we can live our best life. How self absorbed can one person be? Would I pay even $99 to see this dog and pony show? Hell No.
ps Oprah needs a haircut.
I absolutely would! Not only would I love to pick her brain and the gurus, but there’s a laundry list of questions I have for her on how she built her empire.
Oprah isn’t whaat she use to me… but i’m sure she remembers and that’s the info i’d like.
I’ve never understood how Oprah is such a big deal and everyone fawns over how awesome she is (well, not everyone, but a lot if people). I would not pay anything to meet her or hear her speak. I just don’t have any shits to give for Oprah.
Actually, I think Oprah promotes how awesome Oprah is.
I wouldn’t pay $1.00 to see anything Oprah-related. Actually, if someone offered me $1,000 to see her, I’d pass.
Mr. M just told me about this last night because we are both really surprised that Rob Bell is on this tour with the big O. We used to attend Mars Hill when he was the pastor back in high school and college and boy has he changed. When we moved I didn’t really keep up with him and then he left Mars Hill. My sister and BIL still go there and my sister says she actually likes it better now that he’s been gone. The answer is no though. I would never pay that kind of money to see anyone, especially her and her cronies.
I wouldn’t attend if she paid ME $1,000
Or $10,000.00………………….. loser needs to work on herself!
That picture of her in the purple dress just made my day.
No. @Kiddo – Agree with your statement 100% ***The sad thing is people are mentally weak and insecure. They will follow the wolf (thinking she’s a “sheep” – one of them) blindingly (just because it’s Oprah). People should learn to think and question things for themselves, and don’t even let me get started on that fraud Dr. Phil (who is clearly sexually confused). His wife has to be tired of his BS, but won’t leave him because she enjoys the “perks” of being Dr. Phil’s wife.
There’s a sucker born every minute. And snake oil sales people.
would i? no. fking. way.