There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes drama between First Lady Michelle Obama and the first lady of television, Oprah Winfrey. According to the National Enquirer, Michelle Obama is being forced (by advisers) to “distance herself” from Oprah, out of a fear that if Michelle and Oprah seem too close, the Obama White House will look too “Hollywood”. Of course, there’s another hidden agenda lurking in there, too. It seems that Michelle’s two closest advisers, Valerie Jarrett and Desiree Rogers, are totally jealous of Michelle’s relationship with Oprah. Because what is the White House east wing other than the backdrop for Beverly Hills 90210 plotlines?

Anyway, Desiree Rogers seems to have the biggest ax to grind with the whole “Michelle and Oprah, Best Friends Forever” thing. Desiree is the White House social secretary, which basically means she’s the administrator who oversees events within the White House, like state dinners and cocktail parties, as well as state visits to and from the White House. The social secretary oversees all of the first lady’s official activities, especially since Michelle doesn’t seem too interested in getting involved with policy. Desiree is absolutely furious that Oprah sometimes gets on her turf, and plans and advises Michelle about clothes, events, et cetera:

Michelle Obama is stabbing Oprah Winfrey in the back!

That’s the angry charge of Oprah’s pals, who say jealous advisers are warning the first lady to “distance herself” from the talk queen - even though Winfrey’s vigorous support helped put the Obamas in the White House.

“Michelle had promised Oprah all kinds of special behind-the-scenes access for her upcoming Oprah TV channel,” disclosed a pal of the media mogul.

“But now Michelle is backing out - telling Oprah she has to go through ‘the proper channels’ and speak to her advisers.”

“[Oprah] believes Michelle is being manipulated by jealous advisors - such as White House social secretary Desiree Rogers and another of Barack’s old Chicago friends, Valerie Jarrett, who moved to Washington, DC, to work in his administration,” said the friend of Oprah.

A Chicago source…[claims] that [Rogers and Jarrett] harbor feelings of “intense jealousy” against Oprah.

“Desiree, in particular, felt Michelle had been relying on Oprah too much in some aspects to do the job that she had been hired to do as social secretary.”

“Michelle had been calling Oprah for advice for a long time regarding her wardrobe, her makeup, her hair - and it’s continued since the inauguration.”

“The calls left Desiree steamed, because Michelle was side-stepping her on things she thought she was hired to do.”

“This past Valentine’s Day, for instance, Oprah even arranged for Michelle and Barack to celebrate at a fancy Chicago restaurant, where the executive chef had once been Oprah’s personal chef.”

“Desiree was angry, because behind the scenes she was working out a special dinner for the first couple in DC, which she had to embarrassingly cancel.”

“Michelle, who doesn’t want to lose Desiree, and is caught in the middle of this jealous feud, has been going to her more and more lately.”

“The first lady told Desiree she’ll now be in charge of her family’s TV spots, and Desiree is coming up with all kinds of excuses why Oprah can’t get special access anytime soon for her upcoming TV network.”

“Both [Valerie Jarrett and Desiree] want Oprah’s impact diminished over time.”

Valerie and Desiree “strongly caution” Michelle about letting Oprah get too close to her of the president, warning she could turn the White House into a celebrity sideshow, said the pal.

Oprah fully intends to win her war with the advisers by keeping up a warm and helpful relationship with the first family, say those close to the talk-show host.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 18 2009]

I don’t buy big chunks of this story, but I suspect there may be a grain of truth. Michelle and Oprah do seem to have gotten a lot closer over the past few months - this, after it seemed they were being a little bitchy and passive-aggressive to each other during the primaries and general election (just my opinion, but it really seemed Michelle was shooting Oprah the stink-eye at times).

So Michelle has grown to really like and depend on Oprah’s advice, and now Michelle’s advisers are trying to convince her to reel it in. I don’t buy that there’s this much drama, but there might be some. Honestly, though, I think Michelle and Oprah are both too mature for most of this crap. And by the way, if there is so much drama, why were Michelle and Oprah having so much fun together at Time Magazine’s New York bash this week?