Oprah Winfrey TORCHES Candace Owens in Savage Tweet — “She Thrives on Chaos, Not Change!” Candace Claps Back: “Crowns Are Heavy — That’s Why You Dropped Yours.” Hollywood Is Buzzing

By Elena Vasquez, Entertainment Correspondent Los Angeles, October 27, 2025 — In a digital showdown that has set Hollywood ablaze and X alight with over 2 million posts, media titan Oprah Winfrey unleashed a blistering tweet Sunday night, slamming conservative firebrand Candace Owens as a peddler of “chaos, not change.” The salvo, fired at 8:47 p.m. PT, marked a rare public clash for the usually diplomatic Winfrey, whose 42 million followers erupted in a mix of cheers and jeers. Not one to back down, Owens, the 36-year-old provocateur and former Daily Wire host, fired back within minutes: “Crowns are heavy, Oprah — that’s why you dropped yours. Keep preaching to the choir while I build a cathedral.” The exchange, dripping with venom and metaphor, has ignited a cultural firestorm, exposing fault lines over race, power, and influence in an industry still reeling from its post-2024 election reckoning. As hashtags #OprahVsCandace and #CrownClash trend globally, the fallout is reshaping Hollywood’s conversation.

The feud’s spark traces to Owens’s Saturday night appearance on Fox News Primetime, where she accused Winfrey of “selling out Black America” by endorsing Kamala Harris’s failed 2024 presidential bid and pushing “woke elitism” through her book club and OWN network specials. “Oprah’s not a leader; she’s a gatekeeper for the establishment,” Owens declared, citing Winfrey’s ties to figures like Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein as evidence of “curated morality.” She doubled down on X, posting a clip of Winfrey’s 2020 interview praising Epstein’s “charm” — a comment Winfrey later clarified as naive — and mocking her as “the queen of performative allyship.” The post racked up 1.5 million views, with conservative influencers like Charlie Kirk amplifying it as “the takedown Oprah deserved.”

Winfrey, 71, who has largely avoided direct confrontations since her 1990s beef with rapper Ice-T, broke her silence with a tweet that cut like a scalpel: “Candace Owens thrives on chaos, not change. She builds nothing but noise, tearing down what others have bled to create. Truth isn’t her currency — attention is.” The message, retweeted 300,000 times in hours, was a masterclass in Winfrey’s signature blend of gravitas and shade, invoking her legacy as a trailblazer who rose from poverty to a $2.8 billion empire. Fans flooded X with GIFs of Winfrey’s iconic Aha! Moment catchphrase, while others hailed her as “the queen reclaiming her throne.” Yet detractors, including Owens’s base, called it a “desperate dodge” from a mogul rattled by her fading cultural sway.

Owens’s retort was swift and surgical, landing at 9:03 p.m.: “Crowns are heavy, Oprah — that’s why you dropped yours. Keep preaching to the choir while I build a cathedral. The truth doesn’t need a talk show to shine.” The cathedral jab, a nod to Owens’s new venture — a crowdfunded media platform, Candace Unfiltered, launched post-Daily Wire split in March 2025 — struck a nerve. Her cryptic “crown” dig, interpreted by some as shade on Winfrey’s childless personal life or her retreat from network TV dominance, fueled speculation. “Candace went for the jugular,” tweeted right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro, whose 500,000 likes propelled the clash into Monday’s headlines. By dawn, #CandaceUnfiltered surged past 800,000 posts, with memes pitting Winfrey’s The Color Purple gravitas against Owens’s BLEXIT bravado.

Hollywood’s reaction is a kaleidoscope of awe and unease. Insiders at OWN, Winfrey’s cable network, whisper that the tweet was a calculated pivot to reassert relevance amid sagging ratings — her recent special on reparations drew just 1.2 million viewers, a far cry from her 1990s talk show peak of 40 million weekly. “Oprah doesn’t tweet lightly,” a former producer told Variety. “This was her drawing a line — and picking a fight she knows she can win.” A-listers like Viola Davis and Tyler Perry rallied behind Winfrey, with Davis posting a cryptic Instagram story: “Build bridges, not bombs.” Meanwhile, conservative-leaning stars like Jon Voight and Roseanne Barr backed Owens, with Barr tweeting: “Candace speaks truth to power. Oprah’s just power.”

The broader context is impossible to ignore. Winfrey’s Harris endorsement, a high-stakes gamble after her 2008 Obama boost, backfired when Trump’s landslide victory left Democrats fractured. Owens, who campaigned for Trump in swing states, has capitalized on the moment, positioning herself as a Gen Z-friendly voice for Black conservatism. Her Unfiltered platform, bankrolled by $10 million from donors like Peter Thiel, promises “raw truth” over “mainstream platitudes” — a direct jab at Winfrey’s feel-good empire. Yet Owens’s own controversies, from her 2024 Kanye West feud to accusations of antisemitic dog-whistling, make her a polarizing lightning rod. A Rasmussen poll shows 54% of Black Americans view her unfavorably, though her X following has swelled to 7 million.

The clash taps deeper cultural veins. Winfrey, a symbol of Black excellence who mainstreamed discussions of race and trauma, faces scrutiny for her elite ties — her 2019 Weinstein documentary pivot after initial hesitance still stings critics. Owens, by contrast, markets herself as a populist disruptor, rejecting “victimhood narratives” while drawing fire for minimizing systemic racism. “Candace is weaponizing authenticity against Oprah’s institution,” says cultural critic Dr. Aisha Harris. “It’s a generational cage match: legacy versus rebellion.” GLAAD and the NAACP condemned Owens’s “divisive rhetoric,” while the Heritage Foundation praised her as “a fearless truth-teller.”

Online, the battle lines are stark. Winfrey’s supporters trend #QueenOprah, sharing clips of her philanthropy — $400 million donated to education — while Owens’s fans counter with #CandaceIsRight, citing her exposes on Big Pharma and cancel culture. A viral TikTok juxtaposing Winfrey’s 1988 wagon-of-fat moment with Owens’s 2023 “woke autopsy” lecture has 3 million views, framing it as old guard versus new. Betting markets, per Bet365, give Owens a slight edge in “winning” the feud, with 1.8-1 odds versus Winfrey’s 2.1-1, reflecting her younger, hyper-online base.

The industry feels the tremors. OWN execs are fast-tracking a “response special,” potentially featuring Kamala Harris or Michelle Obama, to reclaim narrative control. Owens, meanwhile, announced a Candace Unfiltered episode dissecting “Oprah’s contradictions,” teasing unaired Weinstein footage. Netflix and Hulu, sniffing a docuseries goldmine, are reportedly circling both camps. “This isn’t just a spat; it’s a referendum on influence,” says media analyst Pamela Douglas. “Oprah’s legacy is bulletproof, but Candace is betting on a future where outrage outpaces inspiration.”

As the Pan Am Games locker room saga and Capitol Hill shutdowns dominate headlines, this feud underscores a broader truth: Hollywood’s cultural battles are no longer fought in studios but in the raw, unfiltered arena of social media. Winfrey’s crown may still gleam, but Owens’s cathedral is rising — brick by viral brick. Whether this is a passing storm or a paradigm shift, one thing’s clear: In the clash of queens, no one’s throne is safe.