Oprah & Iyanla Vanzant Squash Their “Beef”

February 17th, 2011 - By Grace N. Edwards

When we saw the commercials for Oprah’s interview with author and life coach Iyanla Vanzant, it looked like it was going to be juicy. Well, it didn’t disappoint.  For a year and a half, Iyanla was a regular on Oprah as a “teacher of spiritual laws and principles,” but she abruptly stopped making appearances over 11 years ago.  Iylanla wrote a book in 2010 called Peace From Broken Pieces about her split with Harpo among other things. Oprah decided it was time to have Iyanla back on the show to hash it all out. Their convo was frank; just as it would be between two former friends trying to mend fences. Turns out like many fractured relationships, there was miscommunication. It was an awkward convo. Here’s how it all went down.

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  • Ivory

    The turth of the matter is Iyana got big headed and thought she did not need Opah's guidance….Opah was kind to her by taking a back seat and letting her host her show….because the people love Opah they went along with it….remember Opah has a great influence with people. Iyana was "deceived" by her own lust to think she had the same following and prestige as Opah and she got caught in her own web. You never bite the hand that feeds you. Now she has nothing and no where to turn but back to Opah. Putting a new spin on things…. "I was so insecure….I needed to know you loved me…etc….cut the crap….Iyana is not stupid and she needs to admit the truth and say I made a mistake….I made a bad choice….I got caught up in the moment…..forgive me…I underestimated you and over estimated myself and I caused my own distruction. To thine ownself be true. Opah is good people….she would never have hurt Iyana…she wanted to help her and Iyana slapped her in the face. A Black Woman gave her a hand up and she ran to a White Woman who gave her a hands down ….. when is the Willie Lynch syndrome going to stop. A major price for a history lesson lost.

  • sky blue

    Iyanla is full of crap. Oprah saw it.

  • sky blue

    I am so sick and tired of the constant misuse of the word " GHETTO ". Does'nt anyone know the real definition of the word.

  • Ebony

    I once met (Rhonda)I ILayvan what ever, at one of her seminars a couple of years ago when she was red hot. She had a book signing after the seminar. She was big headed and agrogant then. So her agrogance being her down fall is no surprise to me. Like someone else commented she is as phony as her made up name and a 3 dollar bill. She reminds of Juanita ( I am going to marry myself after being hit in the head by my husband with a shoe ) Bynanum. Juanita Bynaum also misused the name of God too, by saying that God told her to marry that man, that their marriage was anointed and blessed by God. Only problem someone forgot to tell God, LOL!!!

  • Ace

    The whole situation is plain Sad

  • cunylawgrad

    Thank you, thank you!! I went to law school with Iyanla when she was still Rhonda Vanzant — before she became a Yoruba priestess. She got a prestigious job with a major law firm and I suppose the rest is history..sadly what seems to be a self-centered manipulative history. Iyanla bright, and frankly I was also disappoined in the way she spoke on the show….was all the "ghetto-english", really needed? I am not hatin' and wish her the very best but come on — she bought a building and didn't know that she had to pay property taxes or how many bank accounts she had? I hope she rises to the top again and surrounds herself with a strong staff and a stronger sense of self.

  • mary

    Cutie Patootie I agree wholeheartedly with you. Oprah saw beyond her words. Oprah didn't get to where she is by being duped but Iyanla did. Iyanla was trying to convince her that it was prior baggage that contributed to her making a decision she now regrets but I didn't view it that way. It seemed to me that she was ready for her own show and felt like she was very qualified and if Oprah was not on board then she was going to find someone who was. I mean being demanding is not the typical trait of someone who is looking for approval, so that completely undermines her reasoning. I think that if she was just honest about her mindset at the time then Oprah and the viewing public would have had more respect for the decision she had made even if it wasn't a good one. It would have shown growth and maturity but her explaination sounds rationalized, dishonest, pathetic and manipulative. Oprah is a wise woman and if Iyanla would just put that psycho babble to the side and kept it honest in saying I thought I was ready to be at your level but I wasn't and then maybe Oprah would have considered offering her a second chance but what I saw on that show its not happening atleast not in this lifetime

    • sharongray

      i totally am on the same page as u,,, i think oprah could see her intentions a mile away; i know i did,, she knew she was trying to give oprah an either do this now or i'm walking,, now she allowed herself to be a pawn in the game of bringing oprah winfrey down,,and like always those type people do their dirt and then leave u.. also i got the feeling that iyanla was trying to ask for another chance, oprah felt it too.which is why she asked her what was the purpose of her coming on the show,,like oprah said i received the many flowers u sent, and you don't have to ask for forgiveness,not needed,i also liked how oprah defended herself by saying constantly "i'm not going to receive that" u go girl..

  • Cutie Patootie

    The fact of the matter is that Iyanla is a LAWYER (Queens College Law School graduate) and she knew exactly what she was doing. She's as fake as a 3-dollar bill and I'm glad that Oprah took her to task!

  • Dawn Coe

    I don't think this should have been a private meeting. There was so much speculating about what had happened between Iyanla and Oprah, it was best for them to tell their stories together, face to face, to end the speculating.

    I think that this meeting was an important teaching moment. There are so many lessons to learn about how we as black women deal with each other. It's funny that Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Suze Orman were secure enough in themselves to first be subservient to a black woman, and to be smart enough to wait until their time had come, but Ms. Vanzant was not. It says alot about her, and maybe someone will take a lesson from this. She would not have had to grovel to Oprah now, if she had humbled herself then. There is nothing wrong with waiting and learning until you are ready. That she didn't know that, and that she thought that Barbara Walters would care and nurture her more than Oprah was her downfall. I love and admire both of these sisters and wish them both well. I also hope that Oprah trusts Iyanla enough to give her a second change. Her voice should be heard.. Lesson learned?

    • Someday

      Insanity is repeating the same thing expecting a different result.

  • Ama

    Sad… This should have been a private meeting.

  • chaka1

    I still can't say her name

    • denalus

      Thats because, according to wikipedia, "Iyanla Vanzant was born in Brooklyn New York as Ronda Eva Harris"
      Her name is as phony and made up as she is!

  • Lolita

    My mouth is still hanging open in disbelief. Both of them were egostistical and bullheaded.

    • Adogiye O. Ayerite

      Lolita, they're only humans with human feelings you know!