By Samara Lynn
Black Enterprise
Apple just posted on its site that it has entered into a multi-year content deal with Oprah Winfrey. From Apple’s website:
Apple today announced a unique, multi-year content partnership with Oprah Winfrey, the esteemed producer, actress, talk show host, philanthropist and CEO of OWN.
Together, Winfrey and Apple will create original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world.
Winfrey’s projects will be released as part of a lineup of original content from Apple.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the pact includes everything from film, TV, applications, books and other content that could easily be distributed on Apple’s all-encompassing platform–not including podcasts. They also report that Winfrey’s Harpo Films will own any and all content produced under the Apple partnership, in line with Winfrey’s longtime business model. The non-exclusive role will allow Winfrey to continue in her role as chairman and CEO of Discovery Communications-backed cable network OWN.
Oprah Winfrey has been a mainstay in the American media for over two decades. Her impact on storytelling, literature, and in film and television has been significant, so much so that the National Museum of African American History and Culture is celebrating the media mogul with the launch of an exhibition that explores her upbringing, her influence on American culture, and her life’s work.
She is not the only powerful African American woman to ink a deal with one of the world’s more preeminent tech companies. Shonda Rhimes is developing a Netflix series based on the real-life story of a millennial woman who conned the rich and powerful in New York City.
-Adedamola Agboola and Selena Hill contributed to this article.
-Editor’s Note: This is a breaking story and will be updated.
