NEWSWEEK PROBES OPRAH'S BREAK FROM TRINITY: 'A major reason—but by no means the only reason—was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.'

Oprah Winfrey was a regular member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ from 1984-1986, and attended periodically into the mid-1990s. "But then she stopped," writes Newsweek's Allison Samuels in the current issue.


"A major reason—but by no means the only reason—was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright," Samuels continues. "According to two sources, Winfrey was never comfortable with the tone of Wright's more incendiary sermons, which she knew had the power to damage her standing as America's favorite daytime talk-show host."


The magazine comes in the wake of Sen. Barack Obama's recent break from Rev. Wright after clips of his more politically-charged sermons ended up on YouTube and caused havoc within the Democratic candidate's campaign.


"Oprah is a businesswoman, first and foremost," says one longtime friend of Oprah's, according to Samuels. "She's always been aware that her audience is very mainstream, and doing anything to offend them just wouldn't be smart. She's been around black churches all her life, so Reverend Wright's anger-filled message didn't surprise her. But it just wasn't what she was looking for in a church."


And while Winfrey, who has endorsed Obama and campaigned on his behalf, had long understood the perils of a close association with Wright, friends say she was blindsided by the pastor's personal assault on Obama, writes Samuels.

"She felt that Wright would never do anything to hurt a man who looked up to him as a father figure," said her close friend. "She also never thought he'd intentionally hurt someone trying to make history and change the lives of so many people.'

Read the entire article here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/135392