Oprah Winfrey Moved to Tears While Discussing 12 Years a Slave

Mogul said that watching the film was "devastating"

By Lily Harrison Nov 14, 2013 12:14 AMTags
Oprah WinfreyAnthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP Images

12 Years a Slave deeply touched Oprah Winfrey.

The media mogul confessed in an interview with the BBC that she was moved after seeing Steve McQueen's harrowing film.

"It's impossible for me to talk about it," she told BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz as she teared up.

"I can't even talk about it. Devastating."

Winfrey was brought to tears during the interview and explained how pleased she is that a number of films this year cover civil rights topics.

She said, "I think everything has its time and I'm so happy for this time. The fact that all of [the films] are happening this year is really, really exciting. People are ready to hear it."

Winfrey also shared that she felt extremely proud to be a part of Lee Daniels' The Butler earlier this year.

Fox Searchlight

"I thought it was an important story for our time and particularly for young people who won't read the history," she told Gompertz.

The former TV host expressed gratitude for not having to attend a racially segregated school in her native state of Mississippi.

"If I had been born five years earlier, none, not any of the benefits that I've been blessed to be successful with would have occurred."

Winfrey isn't the only celebrity coming forward in praise of 12 Years a Slave however.

Sean Diddy Combs and Kanye West (to name a few) have publicly gushed about the possible Oscar contender.