Oprah's brother claimed she turned her back on him before his death
June 5, 2024, published at 11:44 am ET
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Lee was the son of Oprah's mother and another father, and he announced his diagnosis before his death in December 1998 at the age of 29.
“I have AIDS and Oprah knows it, but she's not sympathetic,” he declared in a bombshell interview at the time. “She made it clear that, AIDS or not, I am on my own.”
Lee claimed that Oprah's attitude was: “It's your own fault. It serves you well.” Oprah believes that every gay person will eventually get AIDS.”
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Lee claimed that Oprah's attitude was: “It's your own fault. It serves you well.” Oprah believes that every gay man will eventually get AIDS.” He claimed that the last time he spoke to Oprah was months ago, and that she never came to see him in the hospital when he believed death was knocking at his door.
“At the end of last year I was in the hospital and felt really terrible. I thought I was going to die. Oprah never came to see me. And I don't get any money from her at all,” said Lee. his explosive conversation with National Enquirer.
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But sources close to Oprah – who at the time earned $37 million in just two years – defended the TV star, saying that while she hated Jeffrey's lifestyle, she helped him financially in the past and paid his rent for months. And although she had reportedly stopped giving money at the time, she increased the payments she made to her mother Vernita Lee – and lets her know they can be used to help Jeffrey.
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He claimed Oprah was “unsympathetic” when he told her the news.
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“I don't think homosexuality offends Oprah that much,” Jeffrey said. 'What really upset her was my lifestyle: partying, running around, not having a job.
“Oprah told me, 'You have to get God in your life. You really need Jesus.'”
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Jeffrey – who found out he had AIDS about eight months before the interview – claimed Oprah was “unsympathetic” when he discussed the diagnosis with her.
“She just said, 'Oh God, I'm sorry.' “She told me she hoped I would be able to cope, that I would accept the fact that there is no cure yet, that I would accept the inevitable. She was sorry… but not very sympathetic,” he told the National Enquirer. “It wasn't a surprise to Oprah because of my gay lifestyle. Although she didn't use these words, it was a kind of 'serves you right, you brought it yourself' attitude.”
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Oprah never had a close relationship with her half-brother because she was torn between her mother and father as a child, and when she left her mother's house at age 13, Jeffrey was only a child of 6 or 7 years old , sources claim.
“She always helped me financially,” Lee claimed. “If I needed $500 or even $2,000, she would just give it to me. But we had a big fight. This was before the AIDS issue. She didn't like the way I lived.'
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Oprah's then-rep pushed back on Lee's allegations.
“Oprah tripled the monthly allowance she gave her mother, and told her that if she wanted to pay Jeffrey's rent, it would be up to her mother. It was understood that her mother could use the money for herself or to support Jeffrey.”
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Despite his public outrage, Lee said, “I really don't have any animosity towards Oprah. Let's face it, I basically screwed myself up by being irresponsible.
“I know Oprah has millions and could make things a lot easier for me… take some of the worry out of my life,” her half-brother continued. 'But I'm not bitter. I love her very much and always will.”
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Oprah's publicist denied her brother's allegations at the time.
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As this outlet reported, Oprah taken to social media pay tribute to her brotherin which he talks about his AIDS journey 35 years after his death.
“He was 29 years old. It was 1989 and the world was an extremely cruel place, not only for people suffering from AIDS, but for LGBTQ people in general,” she said in part.
'I often think that if he were still alive, he would be so amazed at how much the world has changed, that gay marriage and Pride Month actually exist. How different his life would have been had he lived in these times, in a world that saw and appreciated him for who he was, instead of shaming him for his sexuality.”
