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Dina Dishes On "Gay American" McGreevey To Oprah
By
Jen Chung
Published May 1, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 1, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Dina Matos McGreevey appeared on Oprah today as part of the publicity tour for her book, Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage, about her marriage to former NJ governor James McGreevey. Of course, the estranged couple have exchanged angry accusations (McGreevey said his estranged wife was using their 5-year-old daughter for publicity while she fired back about portraits of naked men in his home) to the point where a judge had to tell both McGreeveys to put aside their bitter differences for the sake of their child.
The Oprah website has a lot of descriptions and excerpts of the show. From finding out that their early dates were "church picnics, senior citizen breakfasts" because of McGreevey's campaigning to how the announcement that he was a "gay American" was a shock to her (he said he had an affair, but never that he was gay), Matos McGreevey spills a lot of details.
As her husband told the world he's a "gay American," Dina stood by his side with a smile on her face. "I smiled because I didn't want to break down. But, as his world was falling apart, he was still choreographing the entire day and how everything would play out. [He] told me when to smile, what to say if I was asked a question by reporters," she says.
Dina says Jim McGreevey told her to be like Jackie Kennedy. "He was telling me what to do, and he said, 'You have to be Jackie Kennedy today,'" she says. "And I'm thinking, 'Jackie Kennedy—her husband was murdered. You lied and cheated on me, and I have to be Jackie Kennedy?'"
She also says she asked Hillary Clinton (!) for advice; plus Matos McGreevey said she and McGreevey slept in the same bed for three months after the confession. McGreevey, who appeared on Oprah last year when he was stumping for his book, The Confession, gave the Oprah producers a statement saying, "Congratulations. You're sitting on America's favorite couch. I wish you well in your journey. With the telling of this book, Dina has now had an opportunity to share her story as I did with mine. Now, hopefully, is the time to look to the future to raise our daughter in a loving, nurturing environment."
The show will rebroadcast at 1:05AM on WABC 7. And Oprah also got a comment from Golan Cipel, who stills says McGreevey assaulted him: "I deeply regret the suffering that Dina and Jacqueline have had to endure; they were in fact the main reasons why I didn't take legal action against Jim McGreevey for a long time. I did so only when I felt that my life was in danger."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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