Winfrey's working relationship with Weinstein was brought into question once again this week, when "Charmed" actress Rose McGowan took to Twitter to slam the 67-year-old media mogul.
"I am glad more are seeing the ugly truth of @Oprah. I wish she were real, but she isn’t," McGowan tweeted, along with a photo of Winfrey kissing Weinstein on the cheek.
McGowan also alleged that Winfrey was not a supporter of the MeToo movement, and actively aided in helping silence women who claimed to be victims of sexual assault by Def Jam Recordings co-founder Russell Simmons.
"From being pals with Weinstein to abandoning & destroying Russell Simmon’s victims, she is about supporting a sick power structure for personal gain, she is as fake as they come," she tweeted, along with the hashtag "lizard," which was likely a reference to the media mogul's dealings.
McGowan has been an outspoken advocate for the #MeToo movement, which gained mainstream traction in 2017, around the time a long list of rape and sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein began making headlines. McGowan was among those accusers.
Weinstein, 69, is now a registered sex offender, and was sentenced last year to 23 years behind bars for sexual assault and rape. The disgraced producer was extradited from a New York state prison in July to appear in Los Angeles, California, for his second major sexual assault trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge recently granted Weinstein a small legal victory when she dismissed one of the 11 charges of sexual assault leveled against the 69-year-old. The dismissal also removes one of the five accusers from the trial.
McGowan's comments about Winfrey silencing Simmons' alleged victims come over a year after the media mogul announced she was stepping back from "On the Record," a documentary that centered on telling the stories of the Def Jam co-founder's alleged sexual misconduct.
"I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard," Winfrey told the Hollywood Reporter in January 2020. "In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured, and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision."
Though originally slated for release on Apple TV+, the platform ditched the project around the same time Winfrey backed out.
While Simmons has had a plethora of sexual assault allegations attached to his name for decades, the Def Jam co-founder has asserted that all of his past sexual relations "have been consensual."