Oprah Winfrey at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 07, 2024.Photo:
Kevin Mazur/Getty
Oprah Winfrey is remembering her late brother, Jeffrey Lee.
On Tuesday, June 4, the talk show host veteran, 70, shared a message on Oprah Daily in honor of Pride Month and spoke about her sibling who died of AIDS at age 29 during the height of the HIV epidemic in the United States.
“It was 35 years ago that my younger brother Jeffrey Lee died from AIDS,” Winfrey said. “He was 29 years old. The year was 1989 and the world was an extremely cruel place, not just for people suffering from AIDS, but also for LGBTQ people in general.”
She added, “I often think if he’d lived he’d be so amazed at how much the world has changed, that there actually is gay marriage and a Pride Month.”
“How different his life might have been had be lived in these times,” Winfrey continued. “In a world that saw and appreciated him for who he was rather than attempting to shame him for his sexuality.”
The media mogul went on to say that she believes everyone “has the right to love,” adding that she hopes people are “living a life that feels authentic to you” and that she hopes one has the “support around to do so.”
On the Oprah Daily Instagram account, Winfrey wrote, “I wish for you the continued freedom to rise to your truest highest expression of yourself as a human being.”
Oprah Winfrey at the 2023 AFI Fest – Centerpiece Screening of ‘Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story’ at TCL Chinese Theatre on October 27, 2023 in Hollywood.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Winfrey’s message comes after she honored her late brother at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards in March. There she received the Vanguard Award thanks to her support in “promoting acceptance of LGBTQ people and issues,” GLAAD announced ahead of the ceremony.
“At the time, I didn’t know how deeply my brother internalized the shame he felt about being gay,” she said while accepting the honor. “I wish he could have lived to witness these liberated times and be here with me tonight.”
During her speech, she also revealed that Jeffrey inspired The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran from September 1986to May 2011.
“All the years of the Oprah show for me were about sharing stories that actually helped people be more of their authentic selves and I know that that is the truest form of what it means to be free,” Winfrey recalled. “To have personal freedom. To be able to fully be who you are. To have the truest expression of yourself as a human being.”
