Oprah Winfrey has given an official apology for her controversial tweet sent Sunday night.
Related: Oprah Winfrey Dedicated To Turning OWN’s Fortunes Around
During the GRAMMY Awards, the 58-year-old media mogul drew attention and criticism for asking her fans to tune into her network, OWN. She said:
“Every 1 [sic] who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Neilsen box.”
Oprah deleted the tweet “at the request of Nielsen” and apologized by stating, “I intended no harm and apologize for the reference.”
Despite coming off as “desperate,” as her followers put it, Winfrey’s tweet breaches Nielsen’s policies and procedures. A representative for the ratings company said:
“[...] Nielsen is reviewing this incident with our clients and we may withhold, breakout and/or make a note in the ratings…We take any violation of our policy seriously and will work with clients to resolve the situation.”
It’s no secret that OWN has had a less than stellar start; in 2011, the network’s quarterly reports revealed Oprah’s brainchild lost millions of dollars and brought in poor ratings.
Her new show Oprah’s Next Chapter has picked up an audience but, apparently, not enough (see above).