No One Is Late For Oprah!

[Wonderflonium]

http://www.popeater.com/2011/05/07/oprah-winfrey-on-jennifer-hudson-behind-the-scenes/

The slimmed-down singer had attended an Oprah Show soundcheck during a week of severe snowfall, then quietly flew to Texas for a gig...

http://thedishmaster.com/2011/05/jennifer-hudson-stands-up-oprah-behind-the-scenes-footage-revealed.html

In a nutshell, Jennifer Hudson was scheduled to appear on Oprah, and after showing up for the sound check, she flew out that night to perform at a private party.

My cynical side says that most people/media outlets aren't specifying that she was performing because they don't want to set the great and powerful Oprah.

[Ceiling Fan]

I've read 2 separate articles that say she was performing at the party, not just attending as a guest. I'll try to dig them up again.

And since it is a work situation what she does on her own time is Oprah's business if it effects her performance. Kind of like you can do whatever you want with your time off as long as you are able to show up sober, ready to work and on time. If something you do on your off hours effects this then your boss has a right to have a problem with you.

So, if there were a chance it would snow/storm tonight, I shouldn't go home because I might not make it back into the office tomorrow?

No, but if you took a job dog-walking clear across town every day on your lunch hour, your boss would be understandably miffed if you were late getting back because of fairly predictable traffic.

You have a professional obligation not to overbook yourself if there's a chance it would mean not being able to perform either of your obligations to a professional standard.

[Wonderflonium]

We don't know when Jennifer Hudson booked this private party. I'm willing to bet it was well before anyone knew there were going to be storms that week. (I mean, who books a Grammy- and Oscar-winning performer a few days in advance? I don't think it's possible.) So are you saying that she should have canceled that commitment at the last minute because there was a chance that she'd be late and upset Oprah? If she booked that first, should she have canceled on Oprah at the last minute? If she did, I'm willing to bet Oprah'd have plenty to say about that, too.

[Ceiling Fan]

We don't know when Jennifer Hudson booked this private party. I'm willing to bet it was well before anyone knew there were going to be storms that week. (I mean, who books a Grammy- and Oscar-winning performer a few days in advance? I don't think it's possible.) So are you saying that she should have canceled that commitment at the last minute because there was a chance that she'd be late and upset Oprah? If she booked that first, should she have canceled on Oprah at the last minute? If she did, I'm willing to bet Oprah'd have plenty to say about that, too.

No, I'm saying she should have told La Oprah that she'd be unavailable on X date because she had a previous professional commitment (because, as you say, this might have been booked well in advance). Oprah could have then gone into taping knowing her guest had somewhere else to be one night, or chosen another date, or said, "Sorry, then I guess it won't be possible".

An invitation isn't a summons, even when it's coming from Oprah Winfrey.

[Yarnie]

From what I read, the entertainment industry seems to think J Hud was in the wrong.  And, Jennifer Hudson cost Oprah a LOT of money.

Edited to Add:

Also, she had an entire studio audience waiting on her.

[Wonderflonium]

We don't know when Jennifer Hudson booked this private party. I'm willing to bet it was well before anyone knew there were going to be storms that week. (I mean, who books a Grammy- and Oscar-winning performer a few days in advance? I don't think it's possible.) So are you saying that she should have canceled that commitment at the last minute because there was a chance that she'd be late and upset Oprah? If she booked that first, should she have canceled on Oprah at the last minute? If she did, I'm willing to bet Oprah'd have plenty to say about that, too.

No, I'm saying she should have told La Oprah that she'd be unavailable on X date because she had a previous professional commitment (because, as you say, this might have been booked well in advance). Oprah could have then gone into taping knowing her guest had somewhere else to be one night, or chosen another date, or said, "Sorry, then I guess it won't be possible".

An invitation isn't a summons, even when it's coming from Oprah Winfrey.

But if it hadn't been for the snow, it wouldn't have been a problem. Given that (I'm guessing) Jennifer Hudson isn't psychic, she couldn't have known when she booked both appearances that it would be a problem. The weather problem was only known a few days out. What should she have done then?

[Ceiling Fan]

http://www.popeater.com/2011/05/07/oprah-winfrey-on-jennifer-hudson-behind-the-scenes/

The slimmed-down singer had attended an Oprah Show soundcheck during a week of severe snowfall, then quietly flew to Texas for a gig...

http://thedishmaster.com/2011/05/jennifer-hudson-stands-up-oprah-behind-the-scenes-footage-revealed.html

In a nutshell, Jennifer Hudson was scheduled to appear on Oprah, and after showing up for the sound check, she flew out that night to perform at a private party.

My cynical side says that most people/media outlets aren't specifying that she was performing because they don't want to set the great and powerful Oprah.

And if you are citing your above links as reliable sources, here's what one had to say:

"You don’t schedule an Oprah appearance and then book a private party just so you can make some extra money in between. It’s risky and unprofessional."

So according to that, JH booked Oprah first and then added the private party gig, half a country away, during the winter, smack in the middle of her committment. You don't have to be psychic to know that Chigago is notorious for weather-related delays.

I agree with the above assessment: it was risky and unprofessional.

[Ceiling Fan]

We don't know when Jennifer Hudson booked this private party. I'm willing to bet it was well before anyone knew there were going to be storms that week. (I mean, who books a Grammy- and Oscar-winning performer a few days in advance? I don't think it's possible.) So are you saying that she should have canceled that commitment at the last minute because there was a chance that she'd be late and upset Oprah? If she booked that first, should she have canceled on Oprah at the last minute? If she did, I'm willing to bet Oprah'd have plenty to say about that, too.

No, I'm saying she should have told La Oprah that she'd be unavailable on X date because she had a previous professional commitment (because, as you say, this might have been booked well in advance). Oprah could have then gone into taping knowing her guest had somewhere else to be one night, or chosen another date, or said, "Sorry, then I guess it won't be possible".

An invitation isn't a summons, even when it's coming from Oprah Winfrey.

But if it hadn't been for the snow, it wouldn't have been a problem. Given that (I'm guessing) Jennifer Hudson isn't psychic, she couldn't have known when she booked both appearances that it would be a problem. The weather problem was only known a few days out. What should she have done then?

Basically, I think she shouldn't have double booked herself. I'm no fan of Oprah, but I think JH was unprofessional. Something did happen and the result was she cost people a lot of money, and made herself look bad.

The only bright side is that she did it to Oprah, who then made herself look bad as well.

[Wonderflonium]

Yes, Chicago gets snow. It also has lots and lots of winter days with no snow. She couldn't have known it was going to snow on those days when she booked either performance. I see nothing wrong with booking things back to back if you can reasonably assume you will have time for both (and again, in this case, unless she was psychic, she could).

Even if she hadn't booked the private party somewhere else, something could have happened to hold her up. Life happens. The world goes on, and Oprah isn't the center of it.

[jimithing]

The irony is, that J Hud not showing up has been ratings gold for Oprah and her new show. There are TONS of articles about this incident and people love to watch drama and when things go wrong. So while Oprah was mad and upset, this has been good for her and her show, in the end. And she can't stop talking about it.

[Betelnut]

Would O have chastized her beloved Tom Cruise or John Travolta if they delayed a taping due to circumstances beyond their control?  I don't think so.

[jimithing]

Would O have chastized her beloved Tom Cruise or John Travolta if they delayed a taping due to circumstances beyond their control?  I don't think so.

That's funny, because I came to post something very similar, except I was going to say Julia Roberts or Tyler Perry. I don't think she would have been as upset.

Also, my understanding is that it wasn't a problem with the Chicago weather that was the issue, but that Texas had a freak ice storm, which caused the delay. I can be more understanding that someone wouldn't think they would be delayed in Texas because of a blizzard.

[Yarnie]

Apparently Tom Cruise or anyone else has never stood her up, in 25 years of taping.  To me, that says even more about what Jennifer Hudson did was risky and unprofessional. 

I'm also guessing that if they had told Oprah's folks that they had to be in Texas the night before the show would be taped, they would have rescheduled, or they wouldn't have had her on at all. 

[Wonderflonium]

Apparently Tom Cruise or anyone else has never stood her up, in 25 years of taping.  To me, that says even more about what Jennifer Hudson did was risky and unprofessional. 

I'm also guessing that if they had told Oprah's folks that they had to be in Texas the night before the show would be taped, they would have rescheduled, or they wouldn't have had her on at all. 

I'm not picking on you, but you brought up something that has been irritating the bejeebers out of me. People (Oprah) keep talking about Hudson standing her up. Um, no. She didn't. She was late, but she did actually come. I'm willing to bet that although people may not have been that late, people have been late in the past 25 years. The phrasing is being used to get around that and/or to make it sound more dramatic.

Celebrities book events close together all the time, and ice storms like that don't happen often in Dallas (believe me, my Dallas friends were shocked to high heaven by it), so they wouldn't necessarily have rescheduled.

[jimithing]

Apparently Tom Cruise or anyone else has never stood her up, in 25 years of taping.  To me, that says even more about what Jennifer Hudson did was risky and unprofessional. 

I'm also guessing that if they had told Oprah's folks that they had to be in Texas the night before the show would be taped, they would have rescheduled, or they wouldn't have had her on at all. 

I'm not picking on you, but you brought up something that has been irritating the bejeebers out of me. People (Oprah) keep talking about Hudson standing her up. Um, no. She didn't. She was late, but she did actually come. I'm willing to bet that although people may not have been that late, people have been late in the past 25 years. The phrasing is being used to get around that and/or to make it sound more dramatic.

Celebrities book events close together all the time, and ice storms like that don't happen often in Dallas (believe me, my Dallas friends were shocked to high heaven by it), so they wouldn't necessarily have rescheduled.

Exactly. I don't think Oprah is saying that no one has been late in 25 years. I would find that impossible to believe, especially given the celebrities she has had on the show. Plenty of them are divas in their own right.

I think what she's referring to is that no one left the state and didn't tell them, and was still stuck there on the day of taping.