Icon and former television host Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance during Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention, and during her remarks gave a special shoutout to one particular group of women.
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, while on stage at the United Center in Chicago, Winfrey gave a rousing speech, touching on everything from pervasive racism and sexism to reproductive justice and abortion access.
"I have actually traveled this country from the redwood forests, love those redwoods, to the gulf stream waters. I've seen racism and sexism and income inequality and division," Oprah said while addressing the crowd. "I've not only seen it. At times, I have been on the receiving end of it. But more often than not, what I have witnessed and experienced are human beings, both conservative and liberal, who may not agree with each other but who still would help you in a heartbeat if you were in trouble.
"These are the people who make me proud to say that I am an American," she continued. "They are the best of America. And despite what some would have you think, we are not so different from our neighbors."
But it was her shoutout to "childless cat ladies" that set the internet on fire.
Oprah Winfrey speaks on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 21, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
"When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion. We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted. No! We just try to do the best we can to save them," she said.
"And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady…Well, we try to get that cat out, too."
Winfrey was speaking in direct response to comments made by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance, who has attacked women who by either chance or choice do not have any biological children.
"What I was basically saying is that we're effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies, who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made," Vance said during a recently unearthed Fox News interview from 2021. "And so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."
The vice presidential hopeful then doubled down on his comments, telling former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in a recent interview that it was "obviously a sarcastic comment" because he has "nothing against cats."
Vance has gone on to call child-free women “psychotic,” “sad, lonely, pathetic” people, who “should feel like their life is inadequate" and who should pay higher taxes solely because they are not parents. The senator has also publicly agreed that “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female” is to help raise grandchildren.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance.
Winfrey is not the only Hollywood A-lister to respond to Vance's comments. Shortly after his 2021 Fox News interview went viral, actress Jennifer Aniston responded via her Instagram Stories, expressing her disbelief that such sentiments were "coming from a potential VP of the United States."
"All I can say is... Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day," she continued. "I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too."
And while not evoking Vance's rhetoric, country music star Miranda Lambert also recently waded into the "childless woman" conversation, sharing how her decision to forego motherhood has helped her better mentor the next generation of singers and artists.
"Since I don't have children of my own, I want to use that part of what I've learned for younger generations, especially of artists because nobody tells you how this goes," Lambert said during an interview for the latest Dumb Blonde podcast episode.
"Nobody sits there and gives you a handbook of, like, 'Well, when you make it to this level, this is what's gonna happen.'"
