"I Was Like The Chattel": Cindy Crawford Slams Oprah Winfrey On "The Super Models"
Cindy Crawford went candid on "The Super Models" and said she was treated like the "chattel" after Oprah asked her to flaunt her figure on television.
The Super Models on Apple TV+ invites us to explore the lives of timeless fashion icons Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington. The documentary may sound glamorous, but you quickly learn that it's not about the beauty, money, or power associated with modeling. Off the runway, Naomi dealt with racism. The models also recalled managers attempting to strip them of their bodily autonomy. Besides stunning wardrobes, hair, and makeup, it was abuse, health problems, addiction, and depression that occurred behind the curtains.
In one of the episodes, Crawford opened up about the time Oprah Winfrey asked her to show off her body. The billionaire host asked the then 20-year-old star to flaunt her figure on TV. The footage was purportedly on the Oprah Winfrey Network YouTube page but has since been deleted. However, a snippet of the moment was shown in the documentary. Winfrey introduced Crawford on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986 before asking, "Did she always have this body? Stand up just a moment, now this is what I call a BODY."
The young model smiled and did as she was told. When she reflected back on that moment, she said, "I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard. When you look at it through today's eyes, Oprah's like, 'Stand up and show me your body. Show us why you're worthy of being here.'"
Crawford continued, "In the moment, I didn't recognize it, and watching it back, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that was so not okay really.' Especially from Oprah!" I understand that Crawford was just trying to provide an example of one of the many instances she felt objectified, but I feel like the one she gave was poor – and it seems others agree.
"What a weird take," says @a_k_a_stardust on X, "she was a model that was asked to model."
Elsewhere in the series, Campbell went candid on the discrimination she faced earlier in her career. Once, she and Turlington hopped in a taxi, and the driver assumed she lived in Brooklyn simply because of her skin color. "I would put my hands out many times on New York City streets, and the taxis would fly by,” Campbell recalled. “Then Christy would put out the hand, and they would stop. The guy would be like:,‘I don’t want to go to Brooklyn,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not going to Brooklyn.’"
“I was just like, why is he saying that? It didn’t strike me until, you know, Christy would have to stand out in front of me, get me a taxi to get it to work," she adds. As you can see, The Super Models not only unveils their achievements, it also shows us the challenges these legendary figures encountered. Their stories testify to the great progress we've made in the fashion industry and entertainment.
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