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Oprah Winfrey may have retired her namesake talk show, and her OWN TV network may be struggling by her standards, but she's still peerless.

The daytime legend topped Forbes' list of the highest-paid celebrities for the fourth year in a row, earning $165 million from May 2011-May 2012.

Guess appearing on Keeping Up With the Kardashians wasn't career suicide. Coming in at #2 on the Forbes list is someone you might not expect.

Gabby Douglas and Oprah Winfrey

The magazine listed Michael Bay in second with $160 million during that period, largely on the strength of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

After his twofer of War Horse and Tintin, Steven Spielberg took the third spot with $130 million in revenue, much of which came from residuals.

Mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer netted $115 million, courtesy of more than $1 billion in sales from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

With his new remake of The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer coming down the pipeline, expect him to stay on this list.

Rounding out the top five earners was rapper / producer Dr. Dre, who raked in $110 million, much of it from his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.

Other celebs making the top 10: Tyler Perry, Howard Stern and Simon Cowell. Britney Spears, at #20, was the second-highest earning woman.

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Gabby Douglas' road to Olympic glory was far from easy.

The 16-year-old revealed to Oprah Winfrey on Sunday's Oprah's Next Chapter that she was often bullied and tormented - even at a local gym.

"One of my teammates was like, 'Can you scrape the bar?'" Douglas recalled. "And they were like, 'Why doesn't Gabby do it, she's our slave?'"

"I definitely felt isolated, I felt why am I deserving this? Is it because I'm black? Those thoughts would go through my mind," said the champ.

The teasing got so bad that, at age 14, Gabby Douglas threatened to quit the sport altogether if they couldn't move away and find a new coach.

"I felt like I was bullied and isolated from the group, and they treated me not how they would treat the other teammates," the star admitted.

Indeed, Douglas eventually did move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train at Liang Chow's gym, where fellow Olympic champ Shawn Johnson trained.

Fast forward two years and she's the first ever African-American individual all-around winner, as well as a gold medalist with her teammates.

There will always be Gabby Douglas hair haters, but there's no doubt about who came out on top - and whose future is nothing but bright.

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Rihanna still harbors feelings for Chris Brown, and strong feelings at that.HOT Chris Brown, Rihanna Picture

Appearing last night on Oprah's Next Chapter, Rihanna was asked about the status of her relationship with Chris today, and she did not hold back.

More than three years after his brutal attack on her, she says the couple has worked on things ever since his restraining order was dropped.

Rihanna explained to O, "We're very, very close friends. We built a trust again and that's it. We love each other and we probably always will."

The Barbados native admitted that her feelings toward him were so strong, she was more concerned for Chris than for herself after he beat her.

She says they are NOT together - she mentions he is in a relationship (with Karrueche Tran) - but that it's "awkward" when she sees Chris.

Because "I still love him," she adds, "my stomach drops ... I have to maintain this poker face and understand that it's not going to go away."

Asked by Winfrey whether she believes Chris, who the star describes as her best friend, was a true love for her, Rihanna didn't hesitate.

"Absolutely," she said. "I think he was the love of my life."

Rihanna and Chris Brown: Should they date again?

 

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In her much-anticipated sit-down with Oprah, Rihanna was asked some tough questions about Chris Brown, and answered them all with tearful honesty.

Chris brutally assaulted his then-girlfriend in February 2009 after a huge argument, an altercation that injured her deeply in ways both physical and mental.

Still, she said what she felt most was sympathy towards him.

"It was a weird, confusing space to be in," Rihanna recalled.

"As angry as I was ... as angry and hurt and betrayed, I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help. And like who's gonna help him? Nobody is gonna say he needs help. Everybody's gonna say he's a monster without looking at the source."

"And I was more concerned about him."

Rihanna tearfully told Oprah "I lost my best friend" when Brown attacked her, adding that "everything I knew switched in a night."

Continue Reading...

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by Free Britney at

Oprah Winfrey may be slipping these days and growing a tad desperate for ratings, but the media mogul is still not afraid to ask tough questions.

Rihanna may often cast herself as edgy and hard, but when relaxed and on her home turf (Barbados), she's not afraid to answer them, candidly.

When asked about the end of her relationship with Chris Brown for Oprah's Next Chapter, Rihanna teared up. "It was embarrassing," she said.

"It was humiliating. I lost my best friend."

Oprah and Rihanna

"I was resentful. I held a grudge," Rihanna admitted. "I was dark."

Rihanna and Chris Brown have since reconciled, both personally and professionally; the two stars even collaborated on two remixes in early 2012.

Winfrey admitted she was surprised by Rihanna's non-badass nature. "She was thoughtful. She was very emotional. She was vulnerable," she said.

At the same time, "she pushes the edge a lot," as we've seen in her decision to record with Chris again despite his brutal attack on her in 2009.

Rumors persist that the former lovers will get back together again romantically. While that's just speculation, she doesn't shy away from feeding it.

What do you think? Should Rihanna and Chris date again?

 

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Oprah teases that she was completely surprised by Rihanna in her upcoming interview with the singer, airing a week from Sunday (August 19) on OWN.

Based on this preview, she probably won't be the only one.

Clothed, beautifully fresh-faced, always smiling and acting like just a regular girl from Barbados, Rihanna may be risking her risque image with this segment.

"I thought she would have been kind of a bad-ass kind of a rocker hard-edge woman ... nothing could have been farther from the truth," Oprah said.

Winfrey further delves into the complexities of the 24-year-old:

“She was thoughtful … she was very emotional … she was vulnerable. She pushes the edge. She pushes the edge a lot, and there’s a reason for that.”

In one clip, Rihanna admits she's "super-duper afraid of the pedestal that comes from fame," and confesses going through spells of intense loneliness.

Of course, her inner badass has hardly been forgotten.

At one point, Oprah tells Rihanna, “You seem to have a liking to the F-word," eliciting a laugh from the singer, at her family home in the Caribbean.

Should be fun to see a different side to this edgy performer.

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Having just seen Oprah Winfrey's natural hair on the cover of O, we've now been treated to another photo of it, courtesy of her Twitter feed.

Oprah is also wearing no makeup in the pic, a rare sight.

"Me and all my 'girls' in the makeup trailer," the fresh-faced 58-year-old wrote while displaying seven of her wigs on the set of The Butler.

Here's Winfrey prepping to shoot her upcoming movie:

Oprah, No Makeup

The Butler will mark Oprah's return to the big screen for the first time as a character other than herself since 1998's landmark Beloved.

O will play Gloria Gaines in the film, based on a White House butler who served eight U.S. presidents over the course of three decades.

What do you think of Oprah's natural, no-makeup look?

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Oprah Winfrey lets her natural hair down - and out - in the new issue of O, The Magazine, which shows her coiffure "in its natural state" for the first time.

Winfrey admits she almost went bald, or at least very close-cropped, but Bill Cosby talked her out of it. Smart move by Bill, as O's hair is still looking great.

Check our her natural hairstyle on the cover of O:

Oprah Winfrey Natural Hair

In The Makeover Issue, Winfrey also says the only beauty changes that really work are "those in which something inside the receiver clicks, aligning with that which is being received ... the only way to real transformation is through the mind."

Deep thoughts from the talk show queen.

What do you think of Oprah's hair?

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Say what you will about Oprah's recent decline - interviewing ALLLLLL the Kardashians for ratings was a new low - but she puts her money where her mouth is.

The same definitely cannot be said for most of the 58-year-old's critics.

To that end, the talk show queen absolutely shut down a man on Twitter Sunday night who questioned her loyalty to black people, especially in the U.S.

In addition to cars for audience members, Oprah has given millions to charter schools in U.S. cities, helping hundreds achieve their college dreams.

With a Tweet to which there is no comeback, she informed this fool:

Oprah Tweet
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Say it ain't so... prah.

In light of her two-part interview with the Kardashians garnering big ratings for her struggling network, Oprah Winfrey has reportedly signed a release that will allow her to appear on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Oprah, Scott and Kourtney

"She and Khloe especially hit it off. Khloe had her dying laughing," an insider tells Us Weekly of the sit-down Winfrey had with Khloe and Lamar Odom. "It meant so much because she loves Oprah!"

Now, just to be clear: the signing of a release does NOT mean Oprah will actually appear on the E! reality series. It could very well mean that she has given the network permission to re-air snippets of her interviews.

It does, however, mean that the talk show queen will go any length to save her network, just as pretending as if Kim Kardashian delivered a profound response when she said of her failed marriage:

"I've obviously made plenty of mistakes in my lifetime, but I'm not the type to sit and beat myself up over it. If a real lesson was learned, I'm so okay with having experienced that."

"That is so perfect I could weep," responded Winfrey.

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