Should We Be Taking Advice From Iyanla Vanzant?

March 1st, 2012 - By Charing Ball

"iyanla vanzant"

According to Shadow and Act, author, Yoruba princess and spiritual life coach Iyanla Vanzant will be getting her own show courtesy of her old employer turned ex-employer turned employer again, Oprah Winfrey.

The show will be a self-help oriented program reportedly titled, “Iyanla Fix My Life,” and while there is no official airdate, it is said to have been in development for a while now.  Of course, this show will mark, in a very big way, not only a return to television for Iyanla, who previously had the Barbara Walters produced Iyanla show and was a featured life coach on the short lived but popular Starting Over reality show, but also will solidify that Winfrey and Vanzant are indeed BFFs again.

I think most folks saw this coming. After her much publicized grovel fest on the last season the Oprah Show last year and her most recent appearance on a recent episode of Oprah’s Life Classes, we knew then that it was only a matter of time. Likewise, it’s clear that this is an equally beneficial relationship. Winfrey gets a nice boost in ratings among the black woman crowd and Vanzant gets a second chances at the career she squandered away.

If Oprah was the queen of daytime talk, then Iyanla was going to be the mistress.  She was on the fast track, along with other Oprah regulars like Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, to pump a whole bunch of Love Yourself/Save Yourself/Take Responsibility for You television, which Oprah was working to build a brand upon. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for Winfrey to take a back seat to her own show and turn the stage over to Vanzant, who would lecture a room full of women about the virtues of letting go of anger and overcoming adversity. At the height of her success, she made over $3 million dollars, a large part of it as a result of the platform she was given on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Last night, I re-watched the now infamous Winfrey/Vanzant reconciliation show again. Oprah said that she invited Vanzant on to explain why their relationship went south.  According to Vanzant, things fell apart when she received an offer from Barbara Walters for the creation of the show.  Although she had been a regular guest on the Oprah show for over a year and had commitments for a development deal with Harpo Production in the future, Vanzant said that she wasn’t sure where she stood with the Queen of Talk. So she held a meeting with Oprah and staff, and said something to the likes that someone big had offered her a show. When Winfrey told Vanzant that they were not ready at the time to produce a show, Vanzant said that she had fasted and prayed over the decision and that God told her “this is the anointed time not the appointed time. ” Who knew that God sounded a lot like Jesse Jackson?

Anyway, Winfrey told her during the show that she assumed Vanzant had made her decision to go with the unnamed “something big” to develop her show and the next day, sent her a letter wishing her well with her future ventures. Because in the words of Winfrey, “If you don’t want me, you’re free to go.”

Now this could be chalked up to a miscommunication however you have to wonder why Vanzant never called her back to explain where the lines of communication (particularly defining what anointed/appointed time meant) got crossed. Instead she went on her way with her  $1 million dollar deal with Walters, who eventually tanked her career.  In fact, during the show, she never really owned up to how her own ego got into the way of having a successful career. I was waiting for her just to say, “Look Oprah, I gambled. I wanted my own show and was a bit big headed, but I misjudged in thinking that giving you an ultimatum was the way to get that. And because of it, I lost. Foolish me.”  In her own much given advice: own it and move on. Instead, I watched an hour of Vanzant fast-talking in circles, denying cupability and levying accusations like, “I thought you just wanted the work, I didn’t think you wanted me.”

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  • escobme

    Iyanla, Fix Your OWN Damn Life!!! Not Qualified! Boop!

  • Pingback: Iyanla Fixed My Life | Evette Dionne

  • boo

    A lot of what was stated in this “article” is not true. I’ve also watched the Oprah reconciliation show. Iyanla did in fact own up to her part, so you need to watch it more objectively and not look for log-lines to use out of context to fit your agenda. I’ve also read several of her books in which she definitely takes responsibility for her actions through revealing her personal tragedies and how she learned from them by releasing the ego, admitting her role, and doing the work to move forward. Sounds like you may need to do a bit of this work before you go around bashing a woman who has helped millions. What is your intention here anyway? Are you trying to do some kind of “expose” or are you just projecting your own instability and lack of self-responsibility onto a person that you want to emulate?

  • HBOP

    Looking forward to the show… All Teachers of All disciplines are first teaching themselves and then others..We can learn from ALL regardless of light or dark… We need to get out of this “Savior Complex”, looking for someone or thing outside of ourselves to save us and realize, we have all we need inside. “GOD WITHIN”  and in every person and thing.  Then we can open to grow more, love more, forgive more with less judgment and pointing the finger… WE ARE ALL DIVINE AND HAVE A PURPOSE and are on our own journey that incorporates all we attract into our lives for our own growth and development.  The greatest focus should be on self and service, instead of everybody else’s business. Love, Peace & Harmoy https://sites.google.com/site/soalightshc/

    • Tddowery

      Hi guys. I don’t really feel that there is anything to criticize here. The woman is spreading positivity in the world, and Lord knows there aren’t enough people doing that in this world. Take a look at the angst of the mother shouting at her child on the train, or a look at a murder story in the paper, or turn on the TV and see how people bicker with each other on talk shows, or how people smoke like chimneys absolutely any and everywhere they get a chance…this is not a world full of good vibes. It’s a world full of anxiety, depression, anger, disillusionment, hopelessness, apathy, angst…feel free to fill in the rest of the negative adjectives. If more people could have her way of viewing the world, it could be a far better, healthier and more productive place. I mean, even people who critisize things like the Bible…how can there be any harm in positive teaching intended to bring an inncocent joy and virtuous way of life into the world. Once again, it’s people’s negative perceptions and interpretations that taint the meanings that the Bible tries to communicate. It’s that negativity, that unawareness of one’s spirit that Iyanla is tring to rid the world of.

      Self awareness, our outlook is the key to our overall well-being. And it’s the state of your well-being that can have a positive or negative impact on those around you. It’s a domino effect.

  • Author Sarina

    I don’t judge one but judge the fruit n we ALL learn from our mistakes as long as we are growing n moving forward. I for one learned a lot from her, learned how to release my past, and yes, with God, and her help stand free today. I don’t understand why people find such enjoyment in holding others past mistakes over their heads n trashing them? I’m sure you have some old rotted skeletons you would not appreciate someone bringing up when you were trying to move on. If Oprah forgave her n God has forgiven her then who are we or you to hold it over her? I mean really some people just need to get a life of their own n leave others alone. If you disagree w her then just don’t watch. Simple. Blessings n I pray you find peace soon.

  • Pingback: Free Advice To Get My Ex Back | How to get a girl back in 30 days

  • Guest

    i think you meant “Yoruba priestess” not princess. : )

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