Latest news with #JacquelineGuber
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Oprah Says Barbara Walters' Struggles With Motherhood Made Her Never Want Kids
Oprah Winfrey is opening up about the many ways her 'mentor' Barbara Walters impacted her life, both personally and professionally. In the documentary 'Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything,' due out later this month on Hulu, Winfrey recalls witnessing Walters' 'charged, complex relationship' with her daughter, Jacqueline Guber. 'It's one of the reasons why I never had children,' Winfrey, who has been in a relationship with partner Stedman Graham since 1986, explains in the film. 'I remember her telling me once that 'there's nothing more fulfilling than having children, and you should really think about it.' And I was like, 'OK, but I'm looking at you. So, no.'' Walters, who died in 2022 at age 93, adopted her daughter with then-husband Lee Guber after several miscarriages. But as 'Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything' shows, Walters had a difficult time balancing parenting with her high-profile career in television. Growing up, Jacqueline Guber often butted heads with Walters, and experienced drug and alcohol addiction. As a teenager and young adult, her relationship with her famous mother often was strained. In an interview with People published this week, former NBC correspondent Cynthia McFadden recalls Walters being 'very regretful about her family life.' 'She couldn't understand someone like Jackie, who wasn't racing to the top. They were just so dispositionally and physically unlike each other,' McFadden explained. 'It was a struggle. That's not to say they didn't love each other, but it wasn't what she'd hoped for, and probably not what Jackie had hoped for either.' In the documentary, Walters acknowledges that 'people are more accepting' of working parents these days compared to when she was raising a young child. 'You can bring your kid to the office. In those days, if I had brought Jackie into the studio, it would be as if I had bought a dog who was not housebroken,' she said. Though Jacqueline Guber mostly avoids the spotlight, she operated New Horizons for Young Women, a Maine-based therapy program for at-risk female teens, from 2001 to 2008. In 2008, she told Glamour she and Walters 'have come to appreciate each other's quirks.' 'If my mom wasn't my mom, I would still want to be her friend. That says a lot,' she said. 'We believe 100% in each other, and I think that that's what love is all about.' Directed by Jackie Jesko, 'Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything' premiered Thursday at New York's Tribeca Film Festival. Early reviews of the film have been positive. 'It's a documentary a lot like its subject,' Variety wrote, 'sharp and inquiring in a playful way, and enthralled by fame, money, and power.' Oprah Appears To Diss Absent Broadway Legend At The Tony Awards Oprah Winfrey Responds To Claims She Was Paid 'Personal Fee' To Endorse Kamala Harris New Book Reveals Stunning Misconduct And Dysfunction At ABC's 'The View'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Oprah says Barbara Walters was 'one of the reasons' she didn't have kids
revealed that the late Barbara Walters had contributed to her decision to not have children of her own. The TV personality, 71, commented on the topic in the upcoming Hulu documentary Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything, per The Daily Beast. Barbara, who died aged 93 in 2022, adopted a daughter named Jacqueline in 1968 with her second husband Lee Guber. However, Barbara notably had a rocky relationship with Jacqueline and at one point, her teenage daughter ran away from home for a month. Oprah recalled how Barbara had encouraged her to have kids: 'I remember her telling me once that there's nothing more fulfilling than having children, and "You should really think about it". 'And I was like, "Okay, but I'm looking at you, so, no".' Oprah also described Barbara's relationship with her daughter as both 'complex' and 'charged' - adding that it was 'one of the reasons why I never had children'. She also noted she understood Barbara's drive when it came to her journalism career and touched on the subject of needing to make sacrifices when it comes to both work and parenting. 'You are a pioneer in your field and you are trying to break the mold, for yourself and for women who are going to follow you,' she said. 'Something's going to have to give for that. 'And that is why I did not have children. I knew I could not do both well. Both are sacrifices. Sacrifice to do the work and it's also sacrifice to be the mother and to say, "No, let somebody else have that". 'At no time have I ever heard a story, read a story, and based on what I know of Barbara Walters - at no time has Barbara Walters ever said, "No let someone else take that story".' In the documentary, Barbara could be heard saying: 'I was in my 30s when Jackie was born. 'My daughter's a blessing. My world came together. I mean, I was already on the Today show, and I'd had three miscarriages, and now I had everything.' But as Jacqueline grew older, their relationship became strained while her daughter also became involved with drugs. Barbara admitted to feeling 'guilty' when it came to her only child and also stated, 'I didn't realize how tough it was, because she had a mother who was a celebrity.' She added, 'We struggled through schools. And then finally, at one point, when she was 16, I guess, she ran away.' The Hulu doc Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything is set to premiere on the streaming site on June 23. It 'examines the broadcast legend's pivotal role in the history of journalism and her pioneering example for women in the industry,' per an official synopsis.
