They have been the best of friends since meeting fifteen years ago but Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry appear to be on the outs.

A source close to the two Hollywood moguls tells Daily Mail Online that the once practically inseparable pair barely speak to each other now unless it’s regarding business.

Working together on programming for Winfrey’s OWN Network caused the major strain in their friendship.

Perry, 46, has three series on the channel which include the sitcoms For Better or Worse and Love Thy Neighbor – along with the record-breaking drama The Haves and the Have Nots.

‘When Tyler first brought his shows to OWN in 2012, it was a love affair between the two of them.

‘Oprah was very involved in watching Tyler develop them creatively and they even shot promos together with her as Miss Sophia from The Color Purple and he as Madea. 

‘But that relationship has soured in the last six months because Oprah finds Tyler difficult to work with and he doesn’t take constructive criticism well at all,’ a source explains.

Things grew tense with the pair late last summer when 62-year-old Winfrey suggested Perry hire some additional script writers to help develop his shows, particularly the top-rated drama The Have and the Have Nots.

She shared with him research from focus groups and the general consensus from executives at the company was that the writing could be ‘improved significantly.’

‘That’s when Oprah finally got to see a side of Tyler she hadn’t experienced yet. He resisted her feedback, the same way he resists the feedback of critics and media people who chastise his work, and became extremely defensive with her. 

‘He told her, “Aren’t the shows delivering ratings for the network? Well, then let me do what I do and you can keep your focus group research to yourself”,’ reveals the source.

Winfrey reminded Perry that the reason he approached her about doing a deal at OWN was because he lost his TV deal at TBS. 

When the former playwright first launched his sitcoms Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2006) and Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns (2008) at TBS, he scored huge ratings and the network created a new fully-staffed urban division just to manage his programming. 

By the time his third sitcom For Better or Worse came around in 2011 – his shows had dipped drastically in the ratings and TBS laid off its entire urban division.

Tyler didn’t leave TBS because he wanted to go to OWN. His deal with TBS wasn’t renewed because his shows had stopped generating ratings and Tyler wouldn’t take network feedback to help save them when they tried to offer it. 

‘So when his contract was up, they weren’t interested in re-signing it.

‘Oprah basically had to remind him, “you needed me as much as I needed you when we decided to do this partnership and don’t forget that”,’ tells the source.

The professional squabble caused the two to stop communicating as much personally. 

The source adds: ‘Gone were the days of them having long phone conversations and texting late into the night.’

i giggled at “late night texting”.
M7qLxi wonder what those two talk about at 2am.
anyhoo…
am i the only one who could see this happening?
if the following story is true,
is oprah really lying tho?
i detect absolutely no lies from her.
you know i’ve had my complaints about “the haves and have nots” countless times.
i missed two weeks worth of episodes and i may go for a third.
tyler needs a writing team.
point blank period.
i don’t know how many times we all gonna stress this.

lowkey: he also needs to stop writing HAHN like a daily soap.
he can keep hiring fine ass wolves for my review tho.

3241E48500000578-3494066-Kaput_Tyler_Perry_and_Oprah_Winfrey_are_barely_speaking_because_-m-4_1458156515213thanks!

article taken: daily mail