'I have an enormous amount of respect for everything Oprah has achieved': Seal walks back criticism of Winfrey after posting meme slamming her for 'ignoring' Harvey Weinstein rumors
- Seal on Thursaday posted a video explaining he was calling out the hypocrisy of the industry and not Oprah specifically
- The singer had lashed out at Oprah following her inspirational Globes speech that focused on the plight of sex abuse victims
- He appeared to accuse the media mogul of knowing about the rumors against Harvey Weinstein and ignoring them in a meme that went viral
- In the post he shared two images of Oprah with Weinstein and called her 'part of the problem' before closing with a hash-tag that read 'sanctimonious Hollywood'
- Chrissy Teigen posted a comment to his Instagram post, saying: 'Hmm. Let’s just say we’ve all heard things about each other, haven’t we?'
Seal has walked back criticism of Oprah Winfrey he made in an Instagram meme that went viral.
The original post appeared to slam the media mogul for being a hypocrite following her powerful Golden Globes speech Sunday night that focused on the plight of sexually abused women and the 'MeToo' movement.
But in a video clip he shared to Instagram and Facebook Thursday, he claimed that he wasn't targeting Oprah specifically, but the industry in general.
'Let me start by saying that I have an enormous amount of respect for everything that Oprah has achieved and contributed in her life,' Seal said looking directly into the camera.
'What I reposted was not an attack on Oprah at all. She just happened to be the person photographed with the pig in the picture,' he went on.
The singer then insisted: 'What I reposted was commentary on the hypocritical and double standard nature and behavior of Hollywood.'
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Seal reacted to furore over his Instagram meme by defending his action in a video post Thursday in which he claimed che wasn't targeting Oprah specifically but the hypocrisy of the Hollywood industry in general
The singer posted this meme with a pointed caption lashing out at Oprah on Wednesday following her inspirational Golden Globes speech that focused on the Me Too movement
Seal then issued a warning to Fox News to 'back off'.
He went on to state that none of the women who had come forward as victims of Weinstein had received any real justice.
He said that 'losing your job' for raping, sexually abusing or sexually harassing a woman 'is not punishment.'
He went on to state that none of the women who had come forward as victims of Weinstein had received any real justice because H 'losing your job..... is not punishment'
Seal's new statement follows reports that Chrissy Teigen had taken him to task for his Oprah meme.
The model and cookbook author wrote in the comments section of his original Instagram post: 'Hmm. Let’s just say we’ve all heard things about each other, haven’t we?'
It came after the Kiss From A Rose hitmaker shared two photos of Oprah with Weinstein at celebrity events and wrote: 'When you have been part of the problem for decades... but suddenly they all think you are the solution.'
The 54-year-old singer took it one step further, captioning the meme with: 'You'd heard the rumours but you had no idea he was actually serially assaulting young stary-eyed actresses who in turn had no idea what they were getting into. My bad.'
He then hashtagged the post with '#SanctimoniousHollywood.'
Spoke out: Chrissy Teigen took singer Seal to task after he posted a meme to Instagram attacking Oprah Winfrey for ignoring rumors about Harvey Weinstein
Dig: The model and cookbook author, who is married to John Legend, posted a cryptic comment underneath his post
Oprah's inspirational speech while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award focused on the plight of sex abuse victims, but Seal (right) said she ignored the rumors about Weinstein
It is unclear if Seal could say with certainty that Oprah was aware of the varied claims against Weinstein that erupted into the public discourse in 2017 following bombshell reports that sent the producer fleeing Hollywood for a sex rehab in Arizona.
However, in the days following those reports, Oprah addressed the burgeoning allegations against him in an October Facebook post.
She wrote at the time: 'I’ve been processing the accounts of Harvey Weinstein’s hideous behavior and haven’t been able to find the words to articulate the magnitude of the situation,' before sharing a quote from filmmaker James Schamus.
She thanked the victims that had come forward and prophetically added 'I believe a shift is coming.'
Seal, pictured on Oprah's show with his now ex-wife Heidi Klum in 2007
Oprah's speech at the Globes speech was likened to a campaign speech, which in turn sparked new reports that the former talk show queen is eyeing a potential presidential run in 2020.
Seal, who was previously married to model Heidi Klum, had been on Oprah's talk show. He was surprised by the then host who reunited him with a long lost sister in 2007.
The singer caught a good deal of backlash for his post, with many angered by Seal muddling Oprah's speech.
Some questioned if Seal himself knew about the allegations against Weinstein.
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