Oprah Winfrey’s best pal Gayle King says she is ‘DISAPPOINTED’ by Cindy Crawford’s claim that she was treated like ‘chattel’ by the TV host in controversial 1986 interview – as she speaks out to defend her friend

Oprah Winfrey’s best friend Gayle King has revealed she was ‘surprised and a little disappointed’ by Cindy Crawford’s claim that she was objectified and treated ‘like property’ by the TV host in 1986.

Gayle, 68, said it’s not Oprah’s job to humiliate anyone or make them feel bad, and as far as she knows, all is well between Oprah and Cindy.

“I know Cindy has been on her show many, many, many times and it has always been a pleasant experience, (so) I would hate to think that something that happened years ago (could bother her), ‘ the host of CBS This Morning said Entertainment tonight.

The TV host added that she has not yet watched Apple TV+’s The Super Models series, which Cindy made her claim about.

“I want to see it, but I’m surprised and a little disappointed,” Gayle said.

Footage of Oprah Winfrey asking then-20-year-old Cindy Crawford to show off her body on national television in 1986 was removed from the host’s YouTube page after the supermodel spotted the interaction in a new documentary.

Cindy, 57, opened up about the interview in Apple TV+’s new docuseries, The Super Models, in which Cindy and fellow supers Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington reflect on their iconic fashion careers.

Hours after Cindy’s comments were published by DailyMail.com, the video was quietly set to private on the Oprah Winfrey Network’s YouTube page – despite being available to view for the past three years.

DailyMail.com contacted Oprah’s spokesperson for comment.

The controversial footage shows Cindy’s very first performance The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside her Elite Modeling Agency representative, John Casablancas.

You can hear Oprah introduce the stunning young model before asking, “Has she always had this body?” Stand up, this is what I call a BODY.”

Cindy smiled nervously as she stood up, letting the audience – and viewers at home – stare at her statuesque body.

Reflecting on how she felt at that moment, Cindy admitted, “I was like a possession or a child, to be seen and not heard.

“If you look at it through today’s eyes, Oprah is saying, ‘Stand up and show me your body. Show us why you’re worth being here.’

The mother-of-two continued: ‘At the time I didn’t recognize it and when I watched it back I thought, “Oh my god, that was actually not okay.” Especially from Oprah!’

Elsewhere in the clip, Oprah asked several questions to John, who spoke on behalf of Cindy.

When Oprah asked John whether the agency should put the model through a ‘training period’, he replied: ‘With Cindy, it was much more psychologically important that she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to be a model… little by little her ambition grows. .

“She’s starting to get the idea, and I’m saying it now on this program: If she wants to, she can be number one in the industry.”

John’s prediction certainly came true, but in the docuseries Cindy emphasized how hard she worked on it during the early days of her career.

The former House of Style presenter admitted that she often fainted from hunger during grueling shoot days.

‘I was 20 years old, I had dropped out of college to pursue modeling in Chicago and it was great. I was making $1,000 a day,” she recalls.

‘The main activity there was catalogue. There was one main photographer, Victor Skrebneski, and he was the big fish in a small pond. Victor was definitely a mentor in the fashion industry, when Victor said, ‘Don’t move, you didn’t move.’

Cindy continued, “I fainted there more than once. Especially right before lunch, you faint and pass out. And then they backed you up and you did it all again.”

The supermodel’s comments about her Oprah appearance closely echo those of fellow star Brooke Shields, who spoke out last year about her own awkward on-air encounter with Barbara Walters.

During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Brooke, now 58, slammed Walters for the “probing” questions she asked her when she was just 15 years old.

Brooke – who had just starred in The Blue Lagoon at the time of her interview with Walters – explained: ‘She asked me what my measurements were and asked me to stand up, and I stand up and she compares herself to this little girl. and I thought, “This isn’t right. I don’t understand what this is.”

“But I was just behaving and smiling and feeling so abused in so many ways.

“But over the years, you know, when you’ve been in the public eye and getting comments all the time, everyone has an opinion, and you all get to say it, and now that’s where I think social media can be dangerous . . Then you learn to say no, this is my truth.’

Cindy’s candid comments on her interview with Oprah offer an intriguing glimpse into the scandals that could emerge from Apple TV+’s four-part documentary, which charts the rise of the women who made millions, dated movie stars and cemented their status as supermodels after that iconic music video. for George Michael’s 1990 song Freedom.

It is the first time that all four remaining icons, Tatjana Patitz who died of breast cancer earlier this year, come together to discuss the phenomenon in depth.

While the Apple TV+ series basks in the women’s exceptional beauty, it doesn’t shy away from the uglier issues they faced, such as addiction, domestic violence and racial inequality.

The typically reserved Linda Evangelista is seen in tears as she talks about being left disfigured by a botched cosmetic procedure.

The Canadian beauty also shares claims that ex-husband Gérald Marie abused her during their five-year marriage.

Elsewhere, Naomi Campbell reveals she is in perimenopause after being caught with a ‘hot flash’ during a photoshoot in the docu-series.

The Super Models are now available to stream on Apple TV+.