A Guide to Marianne Williamson's Outrageously Large Collection of Celebrity Friends
Politics
Illustration: Elena Scotti
Marianne Williamson—the spiritual guide, author, and presidential candidate who is 85 percent good and 15 percent “Oh no”—has, over the years, amassed quite a black book full of famous friends.
In the past, she’s brushed off her celebrity friends as happenstance. “Meeting someone in Hollywood who is in the entertainment business is like meeting someone in Houston in the oil business,” Williamson told People magazine in 1992. “How do you avoid it?”
But she definitely seems to have eagerly cultivated relationships with the rich and famous. Here’s a rather telling anecdote, also from the People profile:
At one high-profile Hollywood party last February, Williamson pleaded with her friend and backer, producer-manager Sandy Gallin, to introduce her to Dolly Parton and Shirley MacLaine. Teasing her, Gallin recited in a singsong voice, “Dolly, this is Marianne. Shirley, this is Marianne.” Within earshot of TV and movie bigshots, Williamson snapped, “F—off, Sandy!” before storming away.
Dolly escaped, but a lot of other bold-faced names did not.
Elizabeth Taylor
In 1991, Marianne Williamson famously officiated Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding, held at Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch, to Larry Fortensky, a construction worker she met in rehab who was 20 years her junior. At the time of the wedding, Williamson said to People, “There is obviously a very deep place within them where they connect and share a lot of love.” Williamson even reportedly provided marriage counseling to the duo before the wedding.
Williamson recently described how officiating Taylor’s wedding came about:
She called and asked if I would officiate. She was very excited about her nuptials. I’ve officiated at many marriages. What was funny to me was that after her divorce, any time I ran into her she seemed to want to explain almost apologetically how her marriage did not work — almost concerned that I might have taken it personally. It was rather touching.
Oprah Winfrey
We may have Oprah to thank for Williamson’s ascendance, as Winfrey launched Williamson into the broader public consciousness when she interviewed her in 1992, shortly after Williamson published A Return to Love. “I have never been as moved by a book as I have by Marianne Williamson’s book,” Winfrey proclaimed, before adding that she had directly experienced “157 miracles” as a result of reading the book. That’s a lot of miracles!
They’re still friends today (Oprah continues to call Marianne her “spiritual friend and counselor”), and they’ve spoken about her presidential run. No endorsement yet, though!
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