Oprah Winfrey has sparked fierce backlash after claiming young people ‘aren’t supposed to have’ a work-life balance at the start of their careers.
The billionaire media mogul, 72, who was recently criticized for failing to ‘challenge’ Meghan Markle’s claim that she was ‘silenced’ by the Royal Family, ignited further debate as she discussed her career on the Baby, This is Keke Palmer podcast.
Winfrey, who is a self-made star with an estimated net worth of $3.4billion, said she tells young girls graduating from college not to expect to have a work-life balance and to put in the work in order to be truly ‘free’ in their later years, as she is.
The drama ignited when Palmer, 32, asked Winfrey, ‘what is for you the definition of living your best life now? What does it look like?’
The host responded, ‘Well it looks like freedom. It looks like being able to make the choices that are based on what you really want, which I think is the most important question.
‘You know, I think when you’re not free, not completely free, you can’t make decisions based upon what you want. You have to do what you want. This is what I say to my girls, you know, graduating from college and starting their first jobs and they’re talking to me about, you know, work-life balance.
Oprah Winfrey has sparked fierce backlash after claiming young people ‘aren’t supposed to have’ a work-life balance at the start of their careers – pictured June 2026
Winfrey, who is a self-made star with an estimated net worth of $3.4billion, said she tells young girls graduating from college not to expect to have a work-life balance and to put in the work in order to be truly ‘free’ in their later years, as she is – pictured 1995 at the Daytime Emmys
‘At this point, I go, “you ain’t had no work life balance at 22… It’s not there. You’re not supposed to have it. You’re supposed to lay it in. Lay in the work.’
The star added that she has reached a point in her life where her choices come from ‘the purest part of myself’, saying, ‘I only do what I want to do and I’ve earned the right to do that because there was lots of times I had to do what I had to do.
She added, ‘A lot of people think “oh I just want to do what I want to do.” You got to work to be able to do what you want to do.
‘You have to do what you have to do, until you can do what you want to do.’
Fans quickly weighed in with their comments, with some lambasting Winfrey for not being able to ‘relate to normal people’ while others praised her for sharing advice that helped her become a success after growing up in poverty with a single teenage mother.
One follower wrote, ‘Don’t take advice from billionaires. They can’t relate to normal peoples lives and give advice based on real life struggles. She became a millionaire at 32-years-old and has been living with financial freedom for a few decades now.’
A fan then responded, ‘That sounds absurd…she wasn’t born a millionaire. She worked for it. Why wouldn’t I take advice from someone who acquired billions out the mud?!’
Others praised the merit of Winfrey’s remarks but called out they are conditional on surviving long enough to enjoy the fruits of hard work.
The drama ignited when Palmer, 32, asked Winfrey, ‘what is for you the definition of living your best life now? What does it look like?’ The host responded, ‘Well it looks like freedom. It looks like being able to make the choices that are based on what you what do you really want’
Winfrey added, ‘It’s not there. You’re not supposed to have it. You’re supposed to lay it in. Lay in the work.’ The star added that she has reached a point in her life where her choices come from ‘the purest part of myself’
Fans quickly weighed in with their comments, with some lambasting Winfrey for not being able to ‘relate to normal people’ while others praised her for sharing advice that helped her become a success after growing up in poverty with a single teenage mother.
Others praised the merit of Winfrey’s remarks but called out they are conditional on surviving long enough to enjoy the fruits of hard work
Others supported Winfrey’s advice, saying, ‘She literally gave advice that any grand mother would give’
One follower wrote, ‘Bad take!! Life is TOO short to sit around miserable, overworked, underpaid and mistreated! Everyday we have a new disease popping up, wars all over the globe! Flooding, wildfires, violence and so on! Happiness and peace isn’t a destination…we should be trying to find it everyday in our journey!!
Another penned, ‘I agree with Oprah in theory but the comment section is right, there is this level of expectation that you’re even living long enough to experience the doing what you want to do part. A double edged nuance.’
One fan called out Winfrey for endorsing a ‘generational’ value to ‘chronically overwork saying, ‘The younger generation are learning how to make money and do what they want. There is room for many avenues but I don’t believe fully in that ideology.
Others wrote, ‘I disagree on this take! Love Oprah down but she more than anyone can speak to/understand that it’s a systematic reason why we aren’t able to have work life balance.
‘We are a part of a greedy capitalist society…we could be paid fair wages, we could have access to healthy food, marginalized neighborhoods could have access to healthy resources but it’s by design that we aren’t experiencing that. So the result was okay we just have to grind. No, advocate for something different just like we were taught from generations before.’
Others supported Winfrey’s advice, saying, ‘She literally gave advice that any grandmother would give. In life in general to get to that freedom of what you feel is freedom to do what you want without stress of blame, you have to put the work in.
‘She didn’t say work until you can’t work anymore or you have to lose sight of connections and enjoying life to make it. She said do the things to get there…it’s not realistic to think you just fall into the life you’re aspiring to have without very intentional effort.
‘She’s giving advice that she believes helped her on her journey if you don’t believe it’s right for you, don’t take it. We all have choices and freewill. Focus on what’s best for YOU instead of saying she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’
Winfrey has a net worth of $3.4 billion – from her talk show, TV shows and brand deals – according to Forbes .
Dubbed the Queen of All Media by fans – Winfrey began working in media at 17-years-old until she became the host of the iconic Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986.
One of the richest self-made women in America, Oprah reportedly makes $300 million per year, and owns $127 million worth of real estate
She rose to millionaire status in 1989, and reached billionaire level by 2000, making her the first black female billionaire.
One of the richest self-made women in America, Winfrey reportedly makes $300 million per year, and owns $200 million worth of real estate.
The OWN network founder’s main residence is her 66-acre property in Montecito, with a 23,000-square-foot neo-Georgian mansion.
Since her talk show she has branched out into various other endeavors. In 1986 she founded Harpo Productions and in 2011 she launched cable channel OWN.
In 1998, Winfrey created the Oprah’s Angel Network, a charity supporting nonprofit organizations around the world, and covered all administrative costs of the operation so that 100% of the funds would go to charity programs.
She has also given over 400 scholarships to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and in 2013, she donated $12 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In 2022 Howard Stern memorably called out Winfrey for showing off her lavish lifestyle on social media.
The icon rose to millionaire status in 1989, and reached billionaire level by 2000, making her the first black female billionaire – pictured 2008
The OWN network founder’s main residence is her 66-acre property in Montecito, with a 23,000-square-foot neo-Georgian mansion
The controversial radio host spoke about how the media mogul ‘loves showing off’ her wealth and is ‘not embarrassed by’ it during The Howard Stern Show.
‘It’s f****** mind-blowing when you follow her on Instagram,’ he told his co-host Robin Quivers, before adding, ‘You gotta be a little self-aware and know that there are people struggling out there.’
‘Oprah’s not embarrassed by her wealth at all,’ he said. Stern also stated that when you follow the famed talk show host on Instagram you ‘see her estates, her gardens, the people who service her.’
Stern continued his critique, adding that Oprah ‘knows’ how to be rich and ‘likes’ to show it off.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Winfrey for further comment and has yet to hear back.
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