'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

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 last month following her inspirational Golden Globes speech that focused on the Me Too movement

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'

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 

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

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
Seal

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

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. 

OPRAH'S INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH

In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother's house in Milwaukee watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope and said five words that literally made history:' The winner is Sidney Poitier.' Up to the stage came the most elegant man I ever remembered. His tie was white, his skin was black—and he was being celebrated. I'd never seen a black man being celebrated like that. I tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats as my mom came through the door bone tired from cleaning other people's houses. But all I can do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney's performance in Lilies of the Field: 'Amen, amen, amen, amen.'

In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille award right here at the Golden Globes and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award. It is an honor—it is an honor and it is a privilege to share the evening with all of them and also with the incredible men and women who have inspired me, who challenged me, who sustained me and made my journey to this stage possible. Dennis Swanson who took a chance on me for A.M. Chicago. Saw me on the show and said to Steven Spielberg, she's Sophia in 'The Color Purple.' Gayle who's been a friend and Stedman who's been my rock.

I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. We know the press is under siege these days. We also know it's the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice. To—to tyrants and victims, and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I'm especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories. Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories that we tell, and this year we became the story.

Twitter users went wild over the barnstorming speech and initially joked that the former talk show host should make a run in 2020

Twitter users went wild over the barnstorming speech and initially joked that the former talk show host should make a run in 2020

But it's not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It's one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics, or workplace. So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue. They're the women whose names we'll never know. They are domestic workers and farm workers. They are working in factories and they work in restaurants and they're in academia, engineering, medicine, and science. They're part of the world of tech and politics and business. They're our athletes in the Olympics and they're our soldiers in the military.

And there's someone else, Recy Taylor, a name I know and I think you should know, too. In 1944, Recy Taylor was a young wife and mother walking home from a church service she'd attended in Abbeville, Alabama, when she was abducted by six armed white men, raped, and left blindfolded by the side of the road coming home from church. They threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone, but her story was reported to the NAACP where a young worker by the name of Rosa Parks became the lead investigator on her case and together they sought justice. But justice wasn't an option in the era of Jim Crow. The men who tried to destroy her were never persecuted. Recy Taylor died ten days ago, just shy of her 98th birthday. She lived as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up.

Their time is up. And I just hope—I just hope that Recy Taylor died knowing that her truth, like the truth of so many other women who were tormented in those years, and even now tormented, goes marching on. It was somewhere in Rosa Parks' heart almost 11 years later, when she made the decision to stay seated on that bus in Montgomery, and it's here with every woman who chooses to say, 'Me too.' And every man—every man who chooses to listen.

In my career, what I've always tried my best to do, whether on television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere, and how we overcome. I've interviewed and portrayed people who've withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say 'Me too' again.'

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Seal walks back criticism of Oprah over Harvey Weinstein

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