So, Oprah has recanted her support for James Frey, author of the "memoir" (and Oprah Book Club selection) A Million Little Pieces. Previously, she had gone along with Frey's notion that the "emotional truth" of his book mattered more than its lack of actual truth; she now claims to have been "duped," and she's apologized to her viewers for having supported Frey at all.

This isn't surprising, really. Oprah's support for Frey came early in the story, before we had a firm grasp on how the public/culture was going to respond; now that it's clear that most people are appalled by Frey's fraud, Oprah needs to get onto that train before it leaves town without her. And what better way to condemn someone who's faked his own story of redemption than by staging your own "I've seen the light" story?

Further, Oprah's current book club selection is Elie Wiesel's Night, a memoir with a few minor factual inaccuracies of its own. They are very minor, indeed -- on the level of "was Wiesel 15 or 16 when such-and-such happened" -- and they are sort of thing that actually can be justified with the "people forget details, and it's the overall emotional truth that matters" defense that Frey tried to use to justify his much more serious fudging of the facts. But still, if Oprah had continued to support Frey, she'd have opened the door to every Holocaust denial nut: "That memoir wasn't true; why should we believe anything this one says?"

More than anyone in entertainment today, Oprah is supremely aware of her image, and of how her every action plays with her public. And today she's demonstrated that if she should accidentally take a stance that her acolytes won't go along with, she is more than willing to change her opinion to one that will please them. Oprah understands perfectly the old showbiz maxim: "It's all about sincerity; learn to fake that, and you've got it made."