Controversy Down Under: Oprah's Name Blunder Is Revealed on Behind-The-Scenes Show
March 31 2011, Published 8:11 a.m. ET
Australia is up in arms after Oprah Winfrey insulted the nation's Prime Minister by likening her name to pig fat!
The porky faux pas is part of behind the scenes footage filmed during Oprah's Down Under tour last year, which is now airing as a documentary-style show called Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes on her OWN Network, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The talk show queen had trouble remembering how to pronounce Prime Minister Julia Gillard's name when they met in Melbourne last December during her Ultimate Australian Adventure, so she used a mind trick to help her, breaking it into two words: 'gill' and 'lard.'
"Think of 'lard'. Think of 'lard'. Gill-Lard," Winfrey rehearsed in her Melbourne hotel suite before she met the PM for a walk down the Yarra River. "Gills and the fish and lard? OK, good."
Unfortunately for both Oprah and the Aussie PM, lard means pig fat and many of Gillard's countrymen now think that Winfrey insulted their head of state.
The media goddess released a statement to disgruntled Australians on Wednesday in an attempt to smooth over the situation.
"When I say I love Australia, I mean what I say...I LOVE AUSTRALIA-it was one of the most life changing, mind expanding, once in a lifetime extraordinary experiences for all of us, and I would never want any of my comments taken out of context to m