Did Oprah Really Stoop So Low?

Speaking of deplorable books with the Oprah seal of approval, Denise Brown, sister of the murdered Nicole Brown, is going on The Oprah Winfrey Show today to debate the merits of If I Did It, O.J. Simpson's not-quite-confession.

Brown, who says she opposes the book's publication, had actually pulled out of her commitment to do the show, not long after critics (including yours truly) pointed out that the very fact of her participation in the segment would help sell copies.

But that was before Winfrey called Brown and shamelessly guilted her into cooperating by playing on the memory of her dead sister. Brown tells Galleycat:

"[Oprah] personally called to let me know she would not have done a show with the Goldmans had I not said yes originally.... [she] proceeded to tell me that Nicole doesn't have a voice on the show....I felt like I was pushed into a place that I didn't want to be but I could not not be there for Nicole."

Wow. I'm taking Brown's protestations with a grain of salt; I'm sure she wants to be on the teevee as much as anyone. Still, to hear that Winfrey -- the prophet of "To thine own self be true" -- used emotional blackmail to persuade a woman to betray her own conscience is still pretty shocking. Say it ain't so, O.