Oprah Winfrey is embroiled in a bitter row with her stepmother. Barbara Winfrey, who is married to Oprah’s father Vernon, has accused the billionaire chat show host of forcing her out of her husband’s life.
She claims that the 58-year-old has used her fortune to take control of the barbershop Vernon has run for more than 50 years.
And now the 78-year-old has filed for divorce as the row over ownership of the barbershop threatens to tear apart the Winfrey family.
Oprah bought the store in Nashville, Tennessee, last week after it went into foreclosure. She paid 475,000 dollars for the property when it was put up for auction. Barbara Winfrey said the purchase means that Operah, who now runs her own YV network, has gained control of the business and cut her out. “I know what is going on. I’m tired of it, and I’ve had enough,” the Daily Mail quoted Barbara Winfrey as telling WSMV TV in Nashville.
Barbara and Vernon had opened the barbershop a year ago to replace a store at a nearby location.
But the couple apparently could not make timely payments on their mortgage and the red brick building went into foreclosure.
Barbara said she wanted to borrow more money from a bank to come out of the situation but that on advice from his famous daughter Vernon refused to take out a loan.
“People are giving him wrong advice, and it’s leaving me in a situation where all I can do is fight for me,” Barbara said. “There is no reason for it to go into foreclosure like this. The property is upside down, which is what a lot of properties are. It cost us 481,000 dollars to build this building, but it’s only worth 350,000 dollars,” she said. “He believes what he’s told. His daughter doesn’t care about the community. His daughter doesn’t care about the barbershop. But I do,” Barbara said. In a statement to the TV station a spokesman for Oprah said: “Oprah purchased the property that was in foreclosure.” “Vernon Winfrey has been a fixture in the community for decades and will continue to manage the business on a day-to-day basis,” the statement read. Barbara said that her husband has since filed for divorce and believes he does not understand the decisions he is making.
“My wife and I, we have not been getting along well, and I did not want to endow myself to another drawn-out, struggling debt,” Vernon said on the TV show.