I’ve never really thought of Oprah Winfrey as someone who is close-minded about anything, really. She seems exceptionally curious, which is what made her such a good TV talk show host. While Oprah is pretty religious, she’s also not bash-people-over-the-head about it. Which makes this story really weird. Apparently, Shania Twain and Oprah had dinner together at some point, and their conversation turned to religion versus spirituality, and Shania made Oprah sound close-minded or weird about religion?

Shania Twain learned never to talk about religion at the dinner table while out with Oprah Winfrey. The country pop star, 57, shared on the podcast “Table Manners with Jessie Ware and Lennie Ware” on Wednesday that the divisive topic made her conversation with the media mogul, 68, turn “sour.”

“It was great to just sit and have real talks, but as soon as we started talking about religion, it all went sour,” Twain — who did not specify when the dinner took place — said, adding that she then told Winfrey, “Let’s stop talking about religion!’”

The “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” singer said there were clear differences between her and the former talk show host because Winfrey is “quite religious” and Twain considers herself more “spiritual.”

“I’m not religious in the sense that I’m dedicated to a religion,” she explained. “I’m much more of a spiritual person. I’m a seeker.”

Despite their conflicting points of view, Twain said she was open to having a conversation but the topic just “wasn’t debatable” for Winfrey.

“There was no room for debate, and I like to debate,” the “From This Moment On” singer said. “Canadians like to debate everything. So, I’m like, ‘Oh, OK. It’s time to change the subject.’”

A rep for Winfrey did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment on Twain’s claims. In an interview with AARP Bulletin in 2015, the Oprah magazine founder, who grew up Baptist, opened up about her relationship with her faith and how she views those of different backgrounds.

Why does this feel so shady? Granted, if a dinner conversation with Oprah turned to religion, I would try to change the subject too, just because there are more interesting topics of conversation! I’d like to talk to Oprah about royalty, celebrity gossip, whether Gayle ever annoys the bejesus out of her, what Steadman is really like. Again, it feels like Shania is trying to say Oprah is close-minded or even bigoted about religion and… I’m just not buying that? Oprah reads and recommends too many self-help books (many of which are just watered-down lessons from Buddhism and Hinduism) to be close-minded about religion.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram and CBS/Harpo. Oprah Winfrey at ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ UK film premiere in London. London, United Kingdom – Tuesday March 13, 2018.,Image: 533801393, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon Singer Shania Twain arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Lionsgate’s ‘I Still Believe’ held at ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood on March 7, 2020 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 563886707, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon Singer Shania Twain arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Lionsgate’s ‘I Still Believe’ held at ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood on March 7, 2020 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 563886722, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon Oprah Winfrey attends the premiere of Apple TV +’s “Sidney” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on September 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California,Image: 725112936, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Oprah Winfrey, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon

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You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. 76 Responses to “Shania Twain asked Oprah to stop talking about religion during their dinner” equality says: October 3, 2022 at 7:11 am Could just mean that Twain was losing the debate and couldn’t defend her position or that she’s uncomfortable talking about some things. Reply Runaway says: October 3, 2022 at 8:08 am Nah, I buy this. I’m a black woman who grew up with Oprah because every woman I knew worshipped at the cult of Oprah and I never ever got it. As I got older and did, continue to work on myself I came to find value on what she’s offered people all these years. But I definitely buy that she can be sanctimonious, as that’s what I always felt watching her Reply KLO says: October 3, 2022 at 8:22 am @Runaway THIS. Nothing more to add. Mel says: October 3, 2022 at 9:06 am Yes, that’s the vibe I get from her also. I also get “I know everything, so listen to me” vibe. Enny says: October 3, 2022 at 9:30 am I still remember the moment that turned me off Oprah, she was asking a guest a religion-themed question, and when the guest politely said she was not very religious, Oprah turned to the audience and made a big, theatrical production out of it, guffawing and making faces. She’s sanctimonious about many things, I think, but religion more than anything else. MeganC says: October 3, 2022 at 9:57 am Maybe she tried to witness. I can see why Shania would shut that down. Shayd says: October 3, 2022 at 10:20 am New Age -is- cultY and can be divisive. It’s a cult off-shoot of “spiritual” that CAN be quite annoying. Ie, “cell phones kill bees”, or “western medicine is designed to keep you sick”. It’s also gateway to the Qanon qrap. ASHBY says: October 3, 2022 at 10:53 am Sorry, I don’t believe one word of what Shania Twain says, TRUMP supporters are the worst kind of people and definitely not honest. Shania is just trying sell her book. Maybe she should sell her book by explaining what really happened between her, her husband and that weird couple they switched partners with. Now that is a juicy gossip that would sell her book. I’m no Oprah fun, but even I have to admit that Oprah came from nothing and she made it as black woman in America, during some really difficult times in the country and she has done also a lot of good with her money and influence. whatWHAT? says: October 3, 2022 at 10:37 am let’s also remember that, in 2018, Twain said she would have voted for Trump in 2016 because “even though he’s offensive, he’s honest”. oh, sure, she took a lot of sh*t for it and (only after her fans came for her) gave a “sorry if you were offended” kind of apology. but she was apparently OK with him being “offensive”…the FIRST thing he said after he declared his candidacy, in 2015, was that Mexico was sending “rapists” and “murderers”. THE VERY FIRST, IN 2015. and she said that about voting for him in 2018. 2018! How many offensive, racist, misogynistic things had he said by then? and how many lies did he tell by 2018? and yes, as late as that she was saying that she would have voted for him despite his bigotry because he was “honest”…WHICH HE WASN’T!!! so, Shania can go scratch. and F ALL the way off. I’m not even a big Oprah fan but between these two? Oprah, all day long. Reply Yup, Me says: October 3, 2022 at 12:00 pm Thank you. That “Canadians like to debate everything.” sounded like some dog whistle BS for “I love playing Devil’s advocate about sh!t that actually affects some people’s lives.” Shania (conveniently) doesn’t share what really happened in this conversation (which would allow those of us who weren’t there to actually come to our own conclusions about what went down and possibly not side with Shania). Queen Meghan’s Hand says: October 3, 2022 at 12:17 pm Yeah, I think Shania was likely being disrespectful in her “debate”. Wilma says: October 3, 2022 at 1:45 pm Agree with not taking Trumpy Twain at her very non-specific word. Trillian says: October 3, 2022 at 1:49 pm How can you actually lose a debate like this? Reply Tiffany:) says: October 3, 2022 at 2:11 pm Yes! If it is something like “I don’t believe in Jesus”, that’s not really something that a person “couldn’t defend”…it just is. MrsCope says: October 3, 2022 at 7:29 am Oh good thought Equality! Reply Watson says: October 3, 2022 at 7:33 am I love Oprah but can totally see her not wanting to debate religion the way Shania wanted to. I don’t even see it as a matter of being closed minded, but a matter of cultural differences. Americans as a whole are far more steadfast in their religious views, than Canadians are so there is very little to debate. Reply Plums says: October 3, 2022 at 7:34 am A debate about religion vs. spirituality can be very intellectually engaging, but only if both participants are not judge-y or closed-minded about the views of the other. My reaction to this article is a bit different from yours, and I wonder if Shania wasn’t the one who made the conversation awkward. I was raised Unitarian Universalist in the Bible Belt, and Shania’s words here remind me so much of the people I grew up (ironically) going to church with. They were self-centered, very closed minded, and insufferably arrogant when it came to the topic of mainstream christianity, since the majority of them had left conservative christian churches they grew up in that had rejected them in one way or another, so maybe that’s coloring my reaction to her here and I’m being unfair. It could just be because she’s not American. I think the tribal religiosity of a lot of Americans can be weird and off-putting to other westerners. I don’t know what Oprah is like behind closed doors, of course, but I doubt she’s hardcore enough to be preachy and judgmental about disagreement. It would be evident in her public face if she were, imo. Reply Jess says: October 3, 2022 at 8:31 am As someone who also experienced trauma through religion, they have every right to be closed minded about *shrug* Reply Tessa says: October 3, 2022 at 10:01 am Yeah, I’m with Jess. Any religion that preaches “love” but “rejects” people isn’t a religion I want to be open-minded about. I wasn’t raised Unitarian Universalist, but I was very close with a family that was UU in the Bible Belt, they were the only family like that in a hyper religious small town. And they were the kindest and most accepting people in that entire religious town, so my experience couldn’t be more different from yours. 0 arrogance, very open-minded, the arrogance and the closed-mindedness was entirely on the side of the town, constantly mocking the UU family for being into healthy eating and the environment before it was cool. Reply Ellie says: October 3, 2022 at 7:36 am Isn’t Oprah good friends with Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and the likes? They’re spiritual teachers with no ties to any particular religion (that I’m aware of) and in fact some of their teachings even challenge traditional Christian teachings. I’m not buying this story at all. Reply tealily says: October 3, 2022 at 10:54 am That could mean that they are people that don’t mind listening to Oprah pontificate about her beliefs and that Shania is. What aren’t you buying? Reply ThatsNotOkay says: October 3, 2022 at 7:36 am Often when it comes to religion, it IS time to change the subject because you cannot win a debate about religion, in terms of who is “right” in their beliefs. It’s a losing proposition and annoying to have to sit through someone’s eyes glazing over and telling you what they “believe.” Beliefs are not facts. Enjoy them, believe them, but leave me out of them. Reply Steph says: October 3, 2022 at 7:40 am I wouldn’t be surprised. As an atheist, when it comes to religious folks (especially Black Christians) it seems you’re all good if you believe in a god. They do amazing mental gymnastics to make it seem like your religion is theirs under a different name. Actually, it may not be gymnastics, most monotheist religions carry the same message. But it becomes a different story when you don’t believe in a god at all. Values be damned. You could line the exact same moral life but if it’s not in the service of god, you are the devil. Funniest (maybe scariest?) trying ever said to me by a religious person: If you don’t believe in god and aren’t scared of his consequences, why aren’t you a murderer? Reply Sue E Generis says: October 3, 2022 at 9:07 am THIS!! It actually illustrates the lack of logic under which most religious people operate. They automatically equate Atheism with devil worship and evil. Not understanding that to believe in the devil falls under the umbrella of a belief in god. Reply Josephine says: October 3, 2022 at 9:39 am “especially Black Christians”?? Are you kidding me? No one has done more harm in the name of christianity than white evangelicals. I’m not religious but it seems to me that it’s always the white folks who have to export their fake christianity and abuse people under the guise of it. Reply Regina Falangie says: October 3, 2022 at 11:51 am White christains are some of the worst, if not THE worst, people you will ever meet. I say that as someone who knows and loves God but avoids church and those who attend. AmB says: October 3, 2022 at 11:38 am “… why aren’t you a murderer?” Me: “I don’t know, keep talking and let’s find out.” >:{ Reply Paige says: October 3, 2022 at 12:26 pm BWWWWAAAHAHAHAHAHA HandforthParish says: October 3, 2022 at 7:41 am To be fair I don’t think religion is ‘debatable’ with very religious people. I have a few of those in my family and I avoid the topic like a plague. I see debate as an intellectual exercise, and religious people are so entranched in their faith (and I don’t mean in a bigoted way but rather they see Jesus as God, end of) that they can’t ‘debate’ it. I think that’s what she meant when she said she changed the subject, I didn’t think it was shady? Reply Mcmmom says: October 3, 2022 at 7:43 am I’ll discuss religion with you all day long – I majored in religion and it’s a fascinating topic to me, but I would shut a debate down, too. A debate implies an outcome and a winner and picking sides and I have zero interest in that. Maybe Shania wanted to argue and Oprah was, “you do you, but don’t try to convince me to change my beliefs.” Reply Madge says: October 3, 2022 at 7:44 am I think it might be a cultural thing. Canadians generally are not as religious as Americans. I have met a lot of Americans and in my experience if you talk to them for more than 15 minutes they usually start talking about god or casually mention god. We just don’t ever talk about god here. Reply Eurydice says: October 3, 2022 at 8:53 am I think it depends on what part of the country Americans are from. In my area, if a person mentions faith, they are considered lunatics. It’s different, of course, if one is hyphenated – then one’s faith is waived away as part of ethnicity. Reply Andrea says: October 3, 2022 at 11:11 am Born and raised New Yorker who lived in NC and now Canada. My New Yorker parents eyes glaze over whenever anyone brings up God, particularly my father when anyone mentions Jesus, since they don’t really mention him so outright in Catholicism. My dad loathes “bible thumpers” as he calls them and has stated many times is why he would never live south of the Mason Dixon line. Met a few religious people in Canada and the ones I met tended to have kids young and little education. All of my friends are secular and it was easy to find them too. The Old Chick says: October 3, 2022 at 7:52 am That’s just bs. I’ve followed Oprah on and off for freaking decades, she’s absolutely spiritual and a seeker.. That’s 💯 bs. How strange. All her favourite people were clear spiritualists, like them or not. Reply Concern+Fae says: October 3, 2022 at 9:04 am One of the reasons they say not to talk about religion is that people can mean very different can mean very different things when they say the word “God.” People can be open to all sorts of spirituality but be intensely triggered by discussion of the religion they were raised in, some by hearing it praised, some by hearing it denigrated. Reply North of Boston says: October 3, 2022 at 7:58 am This just seems like such a weird thing to toss out in an interview, podcast IDK. It seems like some weird name-dropping flex by ST. And yeah, no idea what OWs like IRL, but yeah when she’s interviewing or talking with people of various religions and spiritual practices on tv she does ask questions to get them to clarify things and she does interrupt even if just to acknowledge and expand on what the other person was saying. If she was in that mode over dinner I could see wanting to go “hey, let’s talk about something else”. But I’ve never seen her close to what ST describes on spiritual or religious subjects. But even so, it just seems like a weird thing to bring up publicly even it’s not a topic ST is normally comfortable chatting about over dinner. Reply Kokiri says: October 3, 2022 at 8:28 am Lol Shania doesn’t need a flex. Shania is the flex. Reply North of Boston says: October 3, 2022 at 8:31 am That’s one of the reasons why I said “weird” Steph says: October 3, 2022 at 8:03 am Shania looks so good in curious but I wish she would have separated them and put in a few strokes of a wide tooth comb (maybe 3) bc it looks like they are right off the rod. Reply Noki says: October 3, 2022 at 8:04 am I have always believed Oprah believes in a higher power and vibrations etc. Never got the sense she was some bible bashing organised religion type. Reply NorthernGirl_20 says: October 3, 2022 at 8:07 am Meh Oprah is responsible for Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil. I can’t stand her personally. Reply Lucy says: October 3, 2022 at 8:28 am This part. For all the good she has done, OW has unleashed some hideous grifters in the Wellness Industrial Complex upon us as well. Reply laurie says: October 3, 2022 at 9:56 am 💯% Every time I see those two slime balls on tv or in the news I gag. TikiChica says: October 3, 2022 at 8:36 am And she promoted John of God in her show too. Reply badrockandroll says: October 3, 2022 at 10:11 am Too lazy to look anything up this frosty Monday, but I have vague memories of some questionable book choices in Oprah’s book club, including a purportedly fact based work which was eventually revealed to be fiction. That being said, Oprah also produced Shania’s reality show, back when both Shania’s voice and her first husband disappeared. Oprah also produced a reality show for Sarah Ferguson, so she has unleashed a lot of grifters! But I also can’t decide whether Shania is Milli or Vanilli, so I definitely have no horse in this race! Reply Yup, Me says: October 3, 2022 at 12:10 pm “But I also can’t decide whether Shania is Milli or Vanilli…” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Kokiri says: October 3, 2022 at 8:26 am I think O has read self help books, etc, & likes to help people/open minded: as long as she personally agrees with what you say/decisions are. As long as she approves. I can fully see her shoving religion at you if you dared disagree. She shoves all her beliefs at people (like her insane dieting ideas). I’ll never forgive her for Dr Oz or Dr Phil. Never forget she promoted those 2. Reply Coco says: October 3, 2022 at 9:49 am Someone in the comments below point out that Shania made a comment that if she could vote in the 2016 election she would have voted for Trump. That change things on who is the one who was pushing their views onto who. Reply Turkeylurkey says: October 3, 2022 at 8:29 am Shania said if she could’ve voted in our election in 2016, she would’ve voted for trump so I don’t care what she thinks about religion or anything else. Reply Persephone says: October 3, 2022 at 9:04 am Thank you. I was wondering when someone would remember this. Reply jess says: October 3, 2022 at 9:31 am Whaaaaaaat?!! Well that changes the dynamics of their conversation quite a bit. Reply lucy2 says: October 3, 2022 at 10:01 am Ew. Man, she sounds like an a-hole. Reply Paige says: October 3, 2022 at 12:31 pm HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Twin Falls says: October 3, 2022 at 10:46 am Her follow up answer: “The question caught me off guard. As a Canadian, I regret answering this unexpected question without giving my response more context,” she continued. “I was trying to explain, in a response to a question about the election, that my limited understanding was that the president talked to a portion of America like an accessible person they could relate to, as he was not a politician. “My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him. “I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows.” Reply whatWHAT? says: October 3, 2022 at 10:58 am Please see my comment below. she said that about him 2018. in 2015, when he declared his candidacy, one of the first remarks he made was about how Mexico “wasn’t sending their best”; that they were sending “rapists” and murderers”. for three years after that, into 2018 when Twain made her comment, he said plenty of other bigoted, misogynistic and antisemitic things. he mocked a disabled reporter. he mocked parents of dead soldiers. he proved himself to be a despicable person in those three years (not like he hadn’t before that) and yet she STILL said that she would have voted for him. if she had “limited understanding” of him and the election, she should have said that. “I don’t know enough to comment” would have worked. but she didn’t say that because she apparently DID know enough to say that DESPITE HIM BEING OFFENSIVE, she would have voted for him. she does NOT get to say, after the fact, when her fans turned on her, that she didn’t know. BULL CRAP. “doesn’t endorse his views”? and yet, she was OK with them because he was “honest”? whatWHAT? says: October 3, 2022 at 10:48 am sorry I didn’t read all the comments before I posted above. THIS, all day long. sure, she apologized (“sorry if I offended anyone”) but the damage is done. and it’s not like she said that JUST after the election. and, even if she had, 45 made the comments about Mexico “not sending their best people when he first announced, in 2015. she said that about him in 2018. 2018!!! how many horrible, bigoted things had he said by then? and how many lies had he told? but no, as late as 2018 she was OK with him because, even though he was “offensive”, she thought he was “honest”. so, she was OK with his bigotry, and anti-semitism, and misogyny. because he was “honest”. right. I don’t really care what Twain has to say about ANYTHING. privileged b*tch. Reply Twin Falls says: October 3, 2022 at 11:33 am She comes across as another ignorant celebrity who shouldn’t talk about anything other than what they are good at. I also think she lives in that very privileged white woman bubble and isn’t someone who is out to make the world a better place. I’m not a country music fan so I wasn’t ever going to be supporting or not supporting her regardless. Persephone says: October 3, 2022 at 12:34 pm @whatWHAT? “sorry if I offended anyone” is NOT an apology. “I apologize for causing offense with my remarks” or “I apologize for making offensive remarks” — those are apologies. I am SO TIRED of people not knowing what an apology is. Just because it has “sorry” in it does not make it an apology. Shania can F*** all the way off with her Trump-supporting self. P.S. I’m not mad at you @whatWHAT, it’s just that these celebrities really irk me sometimes. Gem says: October 3, 2022 at 8:32 am This sounds odd to me because I think of Oprah as being more spiritual than religious. I think she is almost too open-minded, given some of the weirdos she had on her show. Or it might be more of an American versus Canadian thing? Reply Barbara says: October 3, 2022 at 8:40 am Meh. Just the fact that Shania brought it up like this tells me she was the one with the problem. Reply osito says: October 3, 2022 at 8:44 am I could have sworn that I once read that Shania Twain has some extreme-ish religious views, and that was in part why her first marriage ended. Was that all just a wild rumor? Some weird mid-aughts fever dream that stuck with me? Either way, I could see the conversation being awkward. I have some family members with extreme evangelical beliefs. I’m an atheist, but very open to people being what they want and believing what they want, though I don’t love talking about it one way or the other. So, no, I don’t like it when my family members go on a mission to “debunk” my worldview. They see it as “debate,” and I see at as an intrusion. I also don’t like it when they want to “debate” my progressive politics, either: It feels like an attack and neither of us moves the needle for the other, so why even bring it up? Maybe Oprah just had some good boundaries with a casual acquaintance. Her religion isn’t up for debate, so she shut it down. Or vice versa, though the way Shania tells it makes me think she was the one up for a discussion that Oprah wasn’t willing to have. Reply lunchcoma says: October 3, 2022 at 11:13 am I can imagine Shania having odd religious views, but her first marriage to Mutt Lange ended because he was having an affair with her friend, not because of religious disagreements. Reply susan says: October 3, 2022 at 9:26 am maybe they should have had a debate about whether it was a good idea for Shania to have stuffed her face so full of Restylane. Reply EasySeabiscuit says: October 3, 2022 at 10:37 am Perhaps we could not go in on either of them for their face, weight, body etc. Reply Lucy says: October 3, 2022 at 12:08 pm What does that have to do with this, Susan? Reply KrystinaJ says: October 3, 2022 at 10:05 am For context, Shania was talking about a dinner she had with Oprah in the 90’s, not recently. I could see 90’s Oprah being a bit more inflexible with Religion, but today’s Oprah I could see being more open minded. Reply lunchcoma says: October 3, 2022 at 11:12 am I guess I can see Oprah going on about religion in an irritating way. She has a bad picker when it comes to whose advice she listens to, and I can see her promoting someone of Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz’s ilk in an irritating way. But I don’t understand why Shania is giving this interview. This isn’t one of those situations where someone did something gravely offensive that needs to be called out. If dinner with Oprah was awkward, the solution is to not accept Oprah’s dinner invitations anymore and then go on with life. Unless, of course, you want everyone to know you had dinner with Oprah. Reply Lizzie Bathory says: October 3, 2022 at 11:28 am I have no idea what transpired at this dinner, but in my experience “I like to debate” folks vastly overestimate their charm in social situations. And I welcome a good debate when everyone is on board, but to “debate” something deeply personal like religion, especially at the dinner table when not everyone signed up for your debate? That makes you sound like an asshole. And then to air that out how many years later as a white woman who seems to be clout chasing a very famous Black woman? THAT makes you sound like an asshole, too. Oprah didn’t ask for this. Reply Thinking says: October 3, 2022 at 12:01 pm I have no opinion in this, but this gossip is a little different than the usual stuff that we see. It’s kind of interesting in a way. Debating about religion is usually not that fun or ever leads anywhere so two celebrities networking and talking about this topic is kind of fascinating to me. Reply Likeyoucare says: October 3, 2022 at 12:03 pm I dont trust someone who voted for trumph. And that person is not oprah. Reply girl_ninja says: October 3, 2022 at 12:05 pm Shania is an almost Trumpster though. Her saying she would have voted for him because he’s um, checks notes…”I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest,” she said. “Do you want straight or polite?” Then tried to apologize when people told her about herself. Oprah has ALWAYS erred on the side of spiritual than religious even though she grew up in a religious household. I think Shania the Almost Trumpster is being extra in her story telling. Reply Jaded says: October 3, 2022 at 12:36 pm Canadian here — Shania has a long history of stretching the truth and/or outright lying. She originally claimed that Jerry Twain, an Ojibway Indian, was her father. He was actually her stepfather — her bio father, Clarence Edwards, was of French and Irish descent and her mother was also of Irish descent. In one article she claims she’s proud of her adoptive father and she is considered 50% Ojibwa — in another she claims she was physically and sexually abused by him, but both her parents were killed in a car accident in 1987 so they can’t defend themselves. That plus her Trump support that she later tried to walk back is enough for me to give her a huge side-eye about this Oprah story. Reply j says: October 3, 2022 at 12:56 pm Canadian here – no, we don’t like to “debate” everything. She sounds like the kind of person who starts arguments but isn’t informed or logical enough to hold a position. Then opts to end the discussion or attack the other person’s character when she makes a fool of herself. Then plays the victim!! The idiot’s playbook lmao. Reply Tigerlily says: October 3, 2022 at 1:11 pm @J Another Canadian here & I was kind of confused about the debate part. I’m a recovering Catholic so I tend to avoid religious debate. My nephew’s nanny is the sweetest most loving woman and a very Christian person. Love her but when she invited me to hr church’s ladies night I politely explained that I don’t do church. We accepted my declining her invite and no hard feelings. However we never discuss religion ever. Reply Jessica says: October 3, 2022 at 1:01 pm Many religious people refuse to see the other side because the other side, science and evolution etc, will actually prove their religion wrong…or eat least find serious problems with their timeline, and that’s hard for religious folk to grapple with. I totally believe this but think Oprah takes that down in her image cause she likes to seem openminded. Reply MC2 says: October 3, 2022 at 2:06 pm Instead of being obsessed with “debating” (ie demanding that her voice always be heard above others)…maybe she should have zipped it & listened to what Oprah was saying, instead of shutting down a wise woman who could have taught her something. Reply Commenting Guidelines Read the article before commenting. We aim to be a friendly, welcoming site where people can discuss entertainment stories and current events in a lighthearted, safe environment without fear of harassment, excessive negativity, or bullying. Different opinions, backgrounds, ages, and nationalities are welcome here - hatred and bigotry are not. If you make racist or bigoted remarks, comment under multiple names, or wish death on anyone you will be banned. There are no second chances if you violate one of these basic rules. By commenting you agree to our comment policy and our privacy policy Do not engage with trolls, contrarians or rude people. Comment "troll" and we will see it. Please e-mail the moderators at cbcomments at gmail.com to delete a comment if it's offensive or spam. If your comment disappears, it may have been eaten by the spam filter. Please email us to get it retrieved. You can sign up to get an image next to your name at Gravatar.com Thank you! Leave a comment after you have read the article Click here to cancel reply. Name: E-mail: Website: Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment Comment: Δ

Could just mean that Twain was losing the debate and couldn’t defend her position or that she’s uncomfortable talking about some things.

Nah, I buy this. I’m a black woman who grew up with Oprah because every woman I knew worshipped at the cult of Oprah and I never ever got it. As I got older and did, continue to work on myself I came to find value on what she’s offered people all these years. But I definitely buy that she can be sanctimonious, as that’s what I always felt watching her

@Runaway THIS. Nothing more to add.

Yes, that’s the vibe I get from her also. I also get “I know everything, so listen to me” vibe.

I still remember the moment that turned me off Oprah, she was asking a guest a religion-themed question, and when the guest politely said she was not very religious, Oprah turned to the audience and made a big, theatrical production out of it, guffawing and making faces. She’s sanctimonious about many things, I think, but religion more than anything else.

Maybe she tried to witness. I can see why Shania would shut that down.

New Age -is- cultY and can be divisive. It’s a cult off-shoot of “spiritual” that CAN be quite annoying. Ie, “cell phones kill bees”, or “western medicine is designed to keep you sick”. It’s also gateway to the Qanon qrap.

Sorry, I don’t believe one word of what Shania Twain says, TRUMP supporters are the worst kind of people and definitely not honest.

Shania is just trying sell her book.

Maybe she should sell her book by explaining what really happened between her, her husband and that weird couple they switched partners with.

Now that is a juicy gossip that would sell her book.

I’m no Oprah fun, but even I have to admit that Oprah came from nothing and she made it as black woman in America, during some really difficult times in the country and she has done also a lot of good with her money and influence.

let’s also remember that, in 2018, Twain said she would have voted for Trump in 2016 because “even though he’s offensive, he’s honest”.

oh, sure, she took a lot of sh*t for it and (only after her fans came for her) gave a “sorry if you were offended” kind of apology.

but she was apparently OK with him being “offensive”…the FIRST thing he said after he declared his candidacy, in 2015, was that Mexico was sending “rapists” and “murderers”. THE VERY FIRST, IN 2015. and she said that about voting for him in 2018. 2018! How many offensive, racist, misogynistic things had he said by then? and how many lies did he tell by 2018? and yes, as late as that she was saying that she would have voted for him despite his bigotry because he was “honest”…WHICH HE WASN’T!!!

so, Shania can go scratch. and F ALL the way off. I’m not even a big Oprah fan but between these two? Oprah, all day long.

Thank you. That “Canadians like to debate everything.” sounded like some dog whistle BS for “I love playing Devil’s advocate about sh!t that actually affects some people’s lives.”

Shania (conveniently) doesn’t share what really happened in this conversation (which would allow those of us who weren’t there to actually come to our own conclusions about what went down and possibly not side with Shania).

Yeah, I think Shania was likely being disrespectful in her “debate”.

Agree with not taking Trumpy Twain at her very non-specific word.

How can you actually lose a debate like this?

Yes! If it is something like “I don’t believe in Jesus”, that’s not really something that a person “couldn’t defend”…it just is.

I love Oprah but can totally see her not wanting to debate religion the way Shania wanted to. I don’t even see it as a matter of being closed minded, but a matter of cultural differences. Americans as a whole are far more steadfast in their religious views, than Canadians are so there is very little to debate.

A debate about religion vs. spirituality can be very intellectually engaging, but only if both participants are not judge-y or closed-minded about the views of the other. My reaction to this article is a bit different from yours, and I wonder if Shania wasn’t the one who made the conversation awkward. I was raised Unitarian Universalist in the Bible Belt, and Shania’s words here remind me so much of the people I grew up (ironically) going to church with. They were self-centered, very closed minded, and insufferably arrogant when it came to the topic of mainstream christianity, since the majority of them had left conservative christian churches they grew up in that had rejected them in one way or another, so maybe that’s coloring my reaction to her here and I’m being unfair. It could just be because she’s not American. I think the tribal religiosity of a lot of Americans can be weird and off-putting to other westerners. I don’t know what Oprah is like behind closed doors, of course, but I doubt she’s hardcore enough to be preachy and judgmental about disagreement. It would be evident in her public face if she were, imo.

As someone who also experienced trauma through religion, they have every right to be closed minded about *shrug*

Yeah, I’m with Jess. Any religion that preaches “love” but “rejects” people isn’t a religion I want to be open-minded about. I wasn’t raised Unitarian Universalist, but I was very close with a family that was UU in the Bible Belt, they were the only family like that in a hyper religious small town. And they were the kindest and most accepting people in that entire religious town, so my experience couldn’t be more different from yours. 0 arrogance, very open-minded, the arrogance and the closed-mindedness was entirely on the side of the town, constantly mocking the UU family for being into healthy eating and the environment before it was cool.

Isn’t Oprah good friends with Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and the likes? They’re spiritual teachers with no ties to any particular religion (that I’m aware of) and in fact some of their teachings even challenge traditional Christian teachings. I’m not buying this story at all.

That could mean that they are people that don’t mind listening to Oprah pontificate about her beliefs and that Shania is. What aren’t you buying?

Often when it comes to religion, it IS time to change the subject because you cannot win a debate about religion, in terms of who is “right” in their beliefs. It’s a losing proposition and annoying to have to sit through someone’s eyes glazing over and telling you what they “believe.” Beliefs are not facts. Enjoy them, believe them, but leave me out of them.

I wouldn’t be surprised. As an atheist, when it comes to religious folks (especially Black Christians) it seems you’re all good if you believe in a god. They do amazing mental gymnastics to make it seem like your religion is theirs under a different name. Actually, it may not be gymnastics, most monotheist religions carry the same message. But it becomes a different story when you don’t believe in a god at all. Values be damned. You could line the exact same moral life but if it’s not in the service of god, you are the devil. Funniest (maybe scariest?) trying ever said to me by a religious person: If you don’t believe in god and aren’t scared of his consequences, why aren’t you a murderer?

THIS!! It actually illustrates the lack of logic under which most religious people operate. They automatically equate Atheism with devil worship and evil. Not understanding that to believe in the devil falls under the umbrella of a belief in god.

“especially Black Christians”?? Are you kidding me? No one has done more harm in the name of christianity than white evangelicals. I’m not religious but it seems to me that it’s always the white folks who have to export their fake christianity and abuse people under the guise of it.

White christains are some of the worst, if not THE worst, people you will ever meet.

I say that as someone who knows and loves God but avoids church and those who attend.

“… why aren’t you a murderer?”

Me: “I don’t know, keep talking and let’s find out.” >:{

To be fair I don’t think religion is ‘debatable’ with very religious people. I have a few of those in my family and I avoid the topic like a plague. I see debate as an intellectual exercise, and religious people are so entranched in their faith (and I don’t mean in a bigoted way but rather they see Jesus as God, end of) that they can’t ‘debate’ it.

I think that’s what she meant when she said she changed the subject, I didn’t think it was shady?

I’ll discuss religion with you all day long – I majored in religion and it’s a fascinating topic to me, but I would shut a debate down, too. A debate implies an outcome and a winner and picking sides and I have zero interest in that. Maybe Shania wanted to argue and Oprah was, “you do you, but don’t try to convince me to change my beliefs.”

I think it might be a cultural thing. Canadians generally are not as religious as Americans. I have met a lot of Americans and in my experience if you talk to them for more than 15 minutes they usually start talking about god or casually mention god. We just don’t ever talk about god here.

I think it depends on what part of the country Americans are from. In my area, if a person mentions faith, they are considered lunatics. It’s different, of course, if one is hyphenated – then one’s faith is waived away as part of ethnicity.

Born and raised New Yorker who lived in NC and now Canada. My New Yorker parents eyes glaze over whenever anyone brings up God, particularly my father when anyone mentions Jesus, since they don’t really mention him so outright in Catholicism. My dad loathes “bible thumpers” as he calls them and has stated many times is why he would never live south of the Mason Dixon line.

Met a few religious people in Canada and the ones I met tended to have kids young and little education. All of my friends are secular and it was easy to find them too.

That’s just bs. I’ve followed Oprah on and off for freaking decades, she’s absolutely spiritual and a seeker.. That’s 💯 bs. How strange. All her favourite people were clear spiritualists, like them or not.

One of the reasons they say not to talk about religion is that people can mean very different can mean very different things when they say the word “God.” People can be open to all sorts of spirituality but be intensely triggered by discussion of the religion they were raised in, some by hearing it praised, some by hearing it denigrated.

This just seems like such a weird thing to toss out in an interview, podcast IDK. It seems like some weird name-dropping flex by ST.

And yeah, no idea what OWs like IRL, but yeah when she’s interviewing or talking with people of various religions and spiritual practices on tv she does ask questions to get them to clarify things and she does interrupt even if just to acknowledge and expand on what the other person was saying. If she was in that mode over dinner I could see wanting to go “hey, let’s talk about something else”. But I’ve never seen her close to what ST describes on spiritual or religious subjects.

But even so, it just seems like a weird thing to bring up publicly even it’s not a topic ST is normally comfortable chatting about over dinner.

Shania doesn’t need a flex. Shania is the flex.

That’s one of the reasons why I said “weird”

Shania looks so good in curious but I wish she would have separated them and put in a few strokes of a wide tooth comb (maybe 3) bc it looks like they are right off the rod.

I have always believed Oprah believes in a higher power and vibrations etc. Never got the sense she was some bible bashing organised religion type.

Meh Oprah is responsible for Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil. I can’t stand her personally.

This part. For all the good she has done, OW has unleashed some hideous grifters in the Wellness Industrial Complex upon us as well.

💯% Every time I see those two slime balls on tv or in the news I gag.

And she promoted John of God in her show too.

Too lazy to look anything up this frosty Monday, but I have vague memories of some questionable book choices in Oprah’s book club, including a purportedly fact based work which was eventually revealed to be fiction. That being said, Oprah also produced Shania’s reality show, back when both Shania’s voice and her first husband disappeared. Oprah also produced a reality show for Sarah Ferguson, so she has unleashed a lot of grifters! But I also can’t decide whether Shania is Milli or Vanilli, so I definitely have no horse in this race!

“But I also can’t decide whether Shania is Milli or Vanilli…”

I think O has read self help books, etc, & likes to help people/open minded: as long as she personally agrees with what you say/decisions are. As long as she approves. I can fully see her shoving religion at you if you dared disagree. She shoves all her beliefs at people (like her insane dieting ideas). I’ll never forgive her for Dr Oz or Dr Phil. Never forget she promoted those 2.

Someone in the comments below point out that Shania made a comment that if she could vote in the 2016 election she would have voted for Trump. That change things on who is the one who was pushing their views onto who.

Shania said if she could’ve voted in our election in 2016, she would’ve voted for trump so I don’t care what she thinks about religion or anything else.

Thank you. I was wondering when someone would remember this.

Whaaaaaaat?!! Well that changes the dynamics of their conversation quite a bit.

Ew. Man, she sounds like an a-hole.

“The question caught me off guard. As a Canadian, I regret answering this unexpected question without giving my response more context,” she continued. “I was trying to explain, in a response to a question about the election, that my limited understanding was that the president talked to a portion of America like an accessible person they could relate to, as he was not a politician.

“My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him. “I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows.”

Please see my comment below. she said that about him 2018.

in 2015, when he declared his candidacy, one of the first remarks he made was about how Mexico “wasn’t sending their best”; that they were sending “rapists” and murderers”. for three years after that, into 2018 when Twain made her comment, he said plenty of other bigoted, misogynistic and antisemitic things. he mocked a disabled reporter. he mocked parents of dead soldiers. he proved himself to be a despicable person in those three years (not like he hadn’t before that) and yet she STILL said that she would have voted for him.

if she had “limited understanding” of him and the election, she should have said that. “I don’t know enough to comment” would have worked. but she didn’t say that because she apparently DID know enough to say that DESPITE HIM BEING OFFENSIVE, she would have voted for him. she does NOT get to say, after the fact, when her fans turned on her, that she didn’t know. BULL CRAP. “doesn’t endorse his views”? and yet, she was OK with them because he was “honest”?

sorry I didn’t read all the comments before I posted above.

THIS, all day long. sure, she apologized (“sorry if I offended anyone”) but the damage is done. and it’s not like she said that JUST after the election. and, even if she had, 45 made the comments about Mexico “not sending their best people when he first announced, in 2015. she said that about him in 2018. 2018!!! how many horrible, bigoted things had he said by then? and how many lies had he told? but no, as late as 2018 she was OK with him because, even though he was “offensive”, she thought he was “honest”. so, she was OK with his bigotry, and anti-semitism, and misogyny. because he was “honest”. right.

I don’t really care what Twain has to say about ANYTHING. privileged b*tch.

She comes across as another ignorant celebrity who shouldn’t talk about anything other than what they are good at. I also think she lives in that very privileged white woman bubble and isn’t someone who is out to make the world a better place. I’m not a country music fan so I wasn’t ever going to be supporting or not supporting her regardless.

@whatWHAT? “sorry if I offended anyone” is NOT an apology. “I apologize for causing offense with my remarks” or “I apologize for making offensive remarks” — those are apologies. I am SO TIRED of people not knowing what an apology is. Just because it has “sorry” in it does not make it an apology. Shania can F*** all the way off with her Trump-supporting self.

P.S. I’m not mad at you @whatWHAT, it’s just that these celebrities really irk me sometimes.

This sounds odd to me because I think of Oprah as being more spiritual than religious. I think she is almost too open-minded, given some of the weirdos she had on her show. Or it might be more of an American versus Canadian thing?

Meh. Just the fact that Shania brought it up like this tells me she was the one with the problem.

I could have sworn that I once read that Shania Twain has some extreme-ish religious views, and that was in part why her first marriage ended.

Was that all just a wild rumor? Some weird mid-aughts fever dream that stuck with me?

Either way, I could see the conversation being awkward. I have some family members with extreme evangelical beliefs. I’m an atheist, but very open to people being what they want and believing what they want, though I don’t love talking about it one way or the other. So, no, I don’t like it when my family members go on a mission to “debunk” my worldview. They see it as “debate,” and I see at as an intrusion. I also don’t like it when they want to “debate” my progressive politics, either: It feels like an attack and neither of us moves the needle for the other, so why even bring it up?

Maybe Oprah just had some good boundaries with a casual acquaintance. Her religion isn’t up for debate, so she shut it down. Or vice versa, though the way Shania tells it makes me think she was the one up for a discussion that Oprah wasn’t willing to have.

I can imagine Shania having odd religious views, but her first marriage to Mutt Lange ended because he was having an affair with her friend, not because of religious disagreements.

maybe they should have had a debate about whether it was a good idea for Shania to have stuffed her face so full of Restylane.

Perhaps we could not go in on either of them for their face, weight, body etc.

What does that have to do with this, Susan?

For context, Shania was talking about a dinner she had with Oprah in the 90’s, not recently. I could see 90’s Oprah being a bit more inflexible with Religion, but today’s Oprah I could see being more open minded.

I guess I can see Oprah going on about religion in an irritating way. She has a bad picker when it comes to whose advice she listens to, and I can see her promoting someone of Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz’s ilk in an irritating way.

But I don’t understand why Shania is giving this interview. This isn’t one of those situations where someone did something gravely offensive that needs to be called out. If dinner with Oprah was awkward, the solution is to not accept Oprah’s dinner invitations anymore and then go on with life.

Unless, of course, you want everyone to know you had dinner with Oprah.

I have no idea what transpired at this dinner, but in my experience “I like to debate” folks vastly overestimate their charm in social situations. And I welcome a good debate when everyone is on board, but to “debate” something deeply personal like religion, especially at the dinner table when not everyone signed up for your debate?

That makes you sound like an asshole. And then to air that out how many years later as a white woman who seems to be clout chasing a very famous Black woman? THAT makes you sound like an asshole, too. Oprah didn’t ask for this.

I have no opinion in this, but this gossip is a little different than the usual stuff that we see. It’s kind of interesting in a way.

Debating about religion is usually not that fun or ever leads anywhere so two celebrities networking and talking about this topic is kind of fascinating to me.

I dont trust someone who voted for trumph. And that person is not oprah.

Shania is an almost Trumpster though. Her saying she would have voted for him because he’s um, checks notes…”I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest,” she said. “Do you want straight or polite?” Then tried to apologize when people told her about herself.

Oprah has ALWAYS erred on the side of spiritual than religious even though she grew up in a religious household. I think Shania the Almost Trumpster is being extra in her story telling.

Canadian here — Shania has a long history of stretching the truth and/or outright lying. She originally claimed that Jerry Twain, an Ojibway Indian, was her father. He was actually her stepfather — her bio father, Clarence Edwards, was of French and Irish descent and her mother was also of Irish descent. In one article she claims she’s proud of her adoptive father and she is considered 50% Ojibwa — in another she claims she was physically and sexually abused by him, but both her parents were killed in a car accident in 1987 so they can’t defend themselves. That plus her Trump support that she later tried to walk back is enough for me to give her a huge side-eye about this Oprah story.

Canadian here – no, we don’t like to “debate” everything. She sounds like the kind of person who starts arguments but isn’t informed or logical enough to hold a position. Then opts to end the discussion or attack the other person’s character when she makes a fool of herself. Then plays the victim!! The idiot’s playbook lmao.

@J Another Canadian here & I was kind of confused about the debate part. I’m a recovering Catholic so I tend to avoid religious debate. My nephew’s nanny is the sweetest most loving woman and a very Christian person. Love her but when she invited me to hr church’s ladies night I politely explained that I don’t do church. We accepted my declining her invite and no hard feelings. However we never discuss religion ever.

Many religious people refuse to see the other side because the other side, science and evolution etc, will actually prove their religion wrong…or eat least find serious problems with their timeline, and that’s hard for religious folk to grapple with. I totally believe this but think Oprah takes that down in her image cause she likes to seem openminded.

Instead of being obsessed with “debating” (ie demanding that her voice always be heard above others)…maybe she should have zipped it & listened to what Oprah was saying, instead of shutting down a wise woman who could have taught her something.

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