An Open Letter to Oprah, Whose ‘The Life You Want’ Tour Asked Me to Work for Free…

The following open letter comes from Revolva, an internationally-renowned hula hoop dancer, circus sensation, writer and character performer. It was originally posted on her site, revolva.net. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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To achieve the life you want, avoid situations that devalue your worth. Like when Oprah’s “The Life You Want” tour, with its tickets priced up to $999, asks you to perform for free.

Dear Oprah:

No effing way.

read on

For all the free press and ability to say perfomed on Oprahs tour I am suprised they do not make the performers pay. Damn that Oprah for reaching out to locals to give them some free press.

a reply to: MrSpad

Did you even read the article?

If she's (Oprah) charging upward to $999 for a single ticket she, being one of the wealthiest women on the planet, should be able (and willing in this one's opinion) to pay local artists for their time and effort.

There is just no excuse.

a reply to: ugmold

I'm a freelance artist. I HATE the "free exposure" schtick.

originally posted by: MrSpad
For all the free press and ability to say perfomed on Oprahs tour I am suprised they do not make the performers pay. Damn that Oprah for reaching out to locals to give them some free press.

After her expenses, she is paying them to perform. Free press never amounts to anything. It's utter crap.

a reply to: redhorse

Its complete BS.

If I want to give away my art, I'll tell YOU. Not vice versa. Right?

a reply to: ugmold

I love this Revolva chick !

Good on her for standing up for herself and artists/performers everywhere by refusing to put on a monkey show for these hypocritical, exploitive pieces of trash .

What is also enraging is the fact that Oprah wouldnt be who she is today if she didnt start off by exploiting people and today with all her overinflated income she still has the balls to try and do it to people?! It truly is disgusting .

This whole "Exposure" BS is the big pimp game in mainstream showbiz right now where they tell you that they wont pay you any money but everyone will see you when the reality of the situation is your the one who has to get up, travel and be away from home and family to do this horse@$%%. Its ripping people off, exploiting people and truly is a scumbag move .

If you do something outside of a charity and/or personal event , you should be compensated from a business perspective. Its commerce 101 . It doesnt have to be a HUGE sum of money but it should be something . The fact that Oprah has so much money and cant be assed to kick a performer something is especially atrocious and cheap .

You wont see this in the media though because they only publish the dog and pony show of this over-rated, greedy excuse for "One of the people" .

This woman makes me sick .


Good for you Revolva ! I would tell them to shove their "Gig" up their fat asses too !


SnF !

-Omega

originally posted by: redhorse
a reply to: ugmold

I'm a freelance artist. I HATE the "free exposure" schtick.

Thats EXACTLY what it is , its Schtick !

Its just another way for these greedy P'sOS to rake in money .

Oprah is the Antichrist!

a reply to: ugmold

There are probably MANY people waiting in line to perform for Oprah's audience. They don't need "Revolva". If she doesn't want to do it for free, that's her choice, but if she's been doing this for 12 years or whatever, perhaps she needs the exposure. She could have become a worldwide sensation (I've never heard of her), but she turned it down based on principle. Her choice.

Oprah fought like HELL to get where she is today and you can bet she wouldn't have turned down an opportunity to do a job for free if it would get her some exposure.

originally posted by: MrSpad
For all the free press and ability to say perfomed on Oprahs tour I am suprised they do not make the performers pay. Damn that Oprah for reaching out to locals to give them some free press.

Good example of how our greedy world works.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

Oprah fought like HELL to get where she is today and you can bet she wouldn't have turned down an opportunity to do a job for free if it would get her some exposure.

It always surprises me the lack of comprehension in understanding most successful people worked like hell to get where they are now.

Oprah came from nothing and is now one of the most powerful women in the world. From an era that was not kind to women or blacks.

I don't get the Oprah hate.

So, from some research, this is what I found. (Fact or not I do not know)

The producer said they were getting requests from local artists to be part of the tour.

So "they" ADDED an outdoor stage to showcase local acts. In other words NOT really part of the paid tour, but an added expense.

No one cares if this hula hoop act is there or not. She's complaining about paying her rent, she's obviously not getting many paid jobs. Integrity doesn't pay the rent either, but that's her choice.

There will be artists lining up to showcase their talent on the free stage. Hula who?

a reply to: BABYBULL24
Did you ever see the skits or spoofs they did on her on Mad TV..lmao

a reply to: AnneeIn general if you haven't noticed Oprah is pretty full of herself. Im not a hater but not a fan..lol

originally posted by: vonclod
a reply to: AnneeIn general if you haven't noticed Oprah is pretty full of herself. Im not a hater but not a fan..lol

Based on what?

Perception is always intriguing.

originally posted by: vonclod
a reply to: Annee
In general if you haven't noticed Oprah is pretty full of herself.

What do you mean, "full of herself"?

Oprah has supported the following charities listed on this site:

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Born This Way Foundation
Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project
Clinton Foundation
Elevate Hope Foundation
Free The Children
GLAAD
Heifer International
Lower East Side Girls Club
Mississippi Animal Rescue League
Mpilonhle
Oprah's Angel Network
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa
Peace Over Violence
Project Cuddle
Red Cross
Robert F Kennedy Memorial
Somaly Mam Foundation
V-Day
Women for Women International
Women in the World Foundation
Worldwide Orphans Foundation

Source

Self-centered bitch!

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

99 dollars for a homeless person. She might not be the worst of people but I do not see her the shining role model many seem to do. All her money/resources is trickle up money/resources from people who have less than her. What would Jesus or any of the blessed ones do? Take money to help another change their life.

Hopefully she do more good than harm. With Obama and the change that never came I am not so sure.

Namaste

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

. . . And . . . I admire her that she continues to evolve as a person.

As she began to embrace "Spiritual Enlightenment" (Deepak, Tolle, etc) --- she got hate mail from Fundy Christian fans stating she was abandoning Jesus.

I admire that she doesn't let adversity stop her from continuing to evolve as an individual.

I think her book club positively gets people reading that may not have had an interest before.

Following Oprah is NOT ----- judging her by media sensationalism.

And so ---- an added outdoor stage for local artists to show their talent will probably be yanked from any future tours.

Good job Hula who?