Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham make rare public appearance

Oprah Winfrey and her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, made a rare joint public appearance in Chicago to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. The outing, which marks their first appearance together as a couple in approximately seven years, took place at Navy Pier during a gathering with former Harpo Productions colleagues.

Winfrey and Graham have been in a relationship since 1986. Although they were engaged in the early 1990s, they never married. Winfrey has previously explained that she chose not to marry to prioritize her career and avoid the specific compromises and commitments she associated with marriage, noting that both she and Graham agreed that marriage might have ultimately ended their relationship.

The couple has largely maintained their privacy in recent years to avoid tabloid speculation. Winfrey previously noted that she reduced their public appearances together because new photographs often led to new media stories.