Want to meet Oprah Winfrey at 'The Butler' premiere? Pay up. - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Want to meet Oprah Winfrey at ‘The Butler’ premiere? Pay up.

Share via

With her talk show now a thing of the past, Oprah Winfrey no longer has the opportunity to share her favorite things with the public. But that doesn’t mean she can’t give of herself in other ways.

Literal ways.

That’s right, Opes lovers. For the right price, you can rub elbows with the Queen of All Media herself at an upcoming premiere of her new movie “The Butler.†(You know, the one currently embroiled in a title battle.)

Weinstein Co., the independent studio behind the historical drama, has teamed with Charitybuzz to offer up a package valued at $25,000. The winning bidder will receive two tickets to either the New York or Los Angeles premiere of the film, where a studio publicist will make the introduction to Winfrey. This will “most likely happen on the red carpet,†according to a Charitybuzz spokeswoman, which means the interaction may not be all that, uh, substantial.

Advertisement

The trouble is, even though the package may be “valued†at $25K, according to Charitybuzz, it doesn’t seem many are interested in ponying up that much to say hi to Winfrey. (The auction will benefit the La Jolla Playhouse.) Bidding on the prize has been open since last week, but as of Tuesday afternoon there were only 13 bids -- the highest one coming in at $5,250.
For comparison’s sake, that’s only about $1,000 more than it cost to buy a jacket Ryan Gosling merely wore in the movie “The Place Beyond the Pines†at a charity auction in April.

For $5,250, you also could have snatched up five tickets to the Disney’s California Adventure premiere of “The Lone Ranger†last month, where admission -- again, for charity -- was $1,000 per guest. (The Gosling jacket was clearly the sounder investment.)

Winfrey, 59, has not appeared in a major role on the big screen in over a decade, last starring in 1998’s “Beloved.†In “The Butler,†out Aug. 16, she plays the wife of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a man who served as the main butler at the White House for more than 30 years.

Advertisement

No word yet on any public auction for a majority stake in OWN.

ALSO:

Oprah Winfrey brings drama to ‘The Butler’ trailer

You got served: Weinstein fighting for ‘The Butler’ title

Advertisement

More drama at Miramax. Is ‘The Hobbit’ cause of ‘Butler’ fight?

Advertisement