NEWS'Today' Co-Hosts Sheinelle Jones and Justin Sylvester Defend Oprah Winfrey After Media Mogul Went Viral for '90-Year-Old Walk': 'It’s OK'
'Today' co-hosts Sheinelle Jones and Justin Sylvester defended Oprah Winfrey after the media mogul went viral for her '90-year-old walk.'
March 20 2026, Published 2:23 p.m. ET
The Today co-hosts are giving Oprah Winfrey the benefit of the doubt amid backlash about her “90-year-old walk.”
During the Friday, March 20, episode of TODAY With Jenna & Sheinelle, Sheinelle Jones and Justin Sylvester dissected Winfrey’s questionable gait and weighed in on whether the controversy was warranted.
Justin Sylvester guest co-hosted 'TODAY With Jenna & Sheinelle.'
“First and foremost, everybody stop coming for Oprah, okay?” the lifestyle expert, 39, started. “Oprah was in Paris, and everyone was saying that Oprah was walking like a 90-year-old, and I’m not going to lie, I was saying it, too. But she had a reason for walking like this…she said that her stylist gave her glasses that she couldn’t see out of….listen, Oprah carried America for 25 years. If she has a little scoliosis, it’s OK.”
Justin Sylvester joked that Oprah Winfrey has scoliosis.
“Scoliosis, Justin?” Jones, 47, said, appalled. “We’ve seen her now. She’s been out and about, so she just couldn’t see…I love Oprah outside. I love this era of outside Oprah. She’s still Oprah, so when people see her and are embracing her or whatever, they have been touched by an angel in their mind. So keep on being outside, Oprah.”
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Oprah Winfrey was accused of walking like she was an elderly woman.
Winfrey, 72, was praised for flaunting her lean physique at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month, but fans were concerned with the way she walked.
“Glad she lost the weight however she looks weak!” one person wrote on X, while another said, “She seems to be struggling to even walk straight.”
A third quipped, “Ozempic X 100.”
Oprah Winfrey Defends Viral '90-Year-Old' Walk
Sheinelle Jones instructed Oprah Winfrey to 'keep on being outside.'
In a behind-the-scenes video from an interview on Friday, March 13, the media personality broke down the moment in question from her trip to France.
"On the internet, somebody was, you know how people drag you on the internet. So they were dragging me and Gayle [King] saying, ‘Look at them walking like they’re 90 years old,'" she explained. "And so there was a moment where we’re walking into the Chloé fashion show and my [assistant] had just handed me the Chloé sunglasses before I got out of the car.”
Oprah Winfrey claimed she walked funny because she didn't have her prescription glasses on.
Winfrey claimed her glasses didn’t have a prescription; therefore, she couldn’t walk normally.
"I didn’t know where I was walking, I could not see," she said. "So everybody who’s saying ‘you’re walking like you’re 90,’ I could not see! I told security, 'I can’t see. I can’t see. Tell me, tell me where I’m walking. I can’t see.' And Gayle's like, 'I got two broken toes. I can’t walk.' And that’s the reason we looked like we were 90 years old is because I couldn't see and Gayle's got two broken toes!"
