Big Give lawsuit says Oprah Winfrey is a big taker

Oprah Winfrey is giving away millions on her new hit, "Oprah's Big Give." But the talk queen refuses to share a dime with a Boston mom who claims she gave Winfrey the idea for the show.

Darlene Tracy, a mother of four with no experience in TV producing, claims that, way back in February 2005, she hatched the concept for a reality show called "The Philanthropist," in which contestants are challenged to help the needy.

Tracy claims she sent her pitch to Ellen Rakieten, executive producer of Winfrey's talk show, and that Rakieten and another producer, Jennifer Thornton, wrote back to ask for more details.

Tracy contends she shipped off a fine-tuned business proposal on March 1, 2005. Four months later, Thornton allegedly told Tracy that Oprah's company, Harpo Productions, was going to pass.

Then, in November 2006, Winfrey announced on her show that she was giving money to audience members so they could help their communities. The following month, she and ABC announced they were teaming up for "Big Give." Tracy, representing herself, promptly filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Boston seeking to stop "Big Give" from airing.

Lawyers for Chicago-based Winfrey argued that Massachusetts wasn't the place to fight this battle. Judge Rya Zobel dismissed Tracy's action, without an opinion.

Tracy has since hired a lawyer and filed an appeal that documents her contact with Winfrey's Harpo Productions and sets forth similarities between "The Philanthropist" and "Big Give."

A Winfrey spokesman tells us: "We agree with the judge that [Tracy's] claims against Harpo Productions, Inc. are without merit."

But could the suit affect Oprah's future deals? We hear that Winfrey and Rakieten have been shopping a companion "Big Give" book. Winfrey is said to have bypassed Random House because its Crown division signed Kitty Kelley to dig dirt on her.

Instead, we hear, she's been talking to Simon & Schuster - but the prospect of having Tracy name the house in her suit has chilled the deal. Reps for the publisher and Harpo insist that there are no plans for a "Big Give" book.

Oprah's spokesman says she's "confident that the Court of Appeals will agree that Tracy has no claim."

A source close to Tracy argues, "Oprah's side has conceded that they didn't have a philanthropy show in development until they got Darlene's pitch. Stealing a show about altruism is more than a little ironic."
[source]