Call it a coincidence if you like, but just as Kitty Kelley’s noisy biography of Oprah is hitting stores, the queen of daytime is set to make a series of high-profile appearances here — hoping to divert attention from the bombshell book.
No one can raise the volume like Oprah — and there is no better place to do it than New York, the media capital.
The tub-thumping starts next Monday and won’t end until early May — with a huge walkathon across the West Side of Manhattan and a one-woman show at Radio City.
The events she will be hosting and starring in have been in the planning stages for a long time — but then so has the tell-all book that alleges she dabbled in prostitution as a teen, had lesbian affairs and embellished her poor upbringing.
The talk-show host has publicly ignored the Kelley book — though best-friend Gayle King joked this week that she’s “betting it won’t be an Oprah Book Club book.”
Her forget-the-book tour begins with an appearance at the Waldorf Astoria next Monday to honor King at the Matrix Awards luncheon, which recognizes some of the biggest names among women in New York media.
Next up, co-hosting the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit Gala — which calls itself “The Party of the Year” — with Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
That’s just the prelude to the “Live Your Best Life Weekend,” a three-day blow-out of Oprah-ana to celebrate the 10th anniversary of O magazine.
Oprah will greet fans on Friday, May 7 — but the real festivities kick off the next day.
Saturday is a series of “lifeshops” at the Jacob Javits Center with acolytes like Suze Orman and Dr. Oz.
That night Oprah takes over Radio City Music Hall where she’ll perform a one-woman show that will “bring her autobiography to life” and is promised to be a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The show will, of course, be taped for broadcast later on her talk show.
A spokesman for Oprah declined yesterday to give any more details on the show.
Oprah will wrap up her New York tour with a Sunday morning walkathon from the Intrepid to Times Square between 7:30 and 11:30 a.m.
Proceeds will go to 10 selected charities, including the New York Restoration Project and A Better Chance.