Frey 'betrayed millions of readers' says 'duped' Oprah

Viewers of The Oprah Winfrey Show got a confession from author James Frey Thursday and an apology from the talk show host herself.

On Thursday, the man behind the disputed addiction-and-recovery memoir A Million Little Pieces appeared on the hit show that helped make his book a bestseller.

Though she has been on television since the age of 19, "I've never been in this position before," Winfrey said. 

When the visibly angry Winfrey quizzed him on point after point about his memoir, which details his recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism, Frey admitted that he had fabricated details about every one of the characters mentioned in his book, including himself.

He also confessed to changing details about the time he spent in jail and about his relationship with another recovering addict, including how she died.

Questions about Frey's authenticity arose in early January after the Smoking Gun website published an in-depth, investigative report saying the 36-year-old author had embellished or fabricated sections of his book.

Frey said Thursday that "most of what [the site] wrote was pretty accurate," and that the Smoking Gun writers who found the discrepancies did "a good job."

Days after the release of the report, Frey appeared on CNN's Larry King Live. He admitted to embellishing parts of the book but argued that the memoir genre allows for writers to take certain liberties and defended the "emotional truth" of his story.

Oprah called in at the end of the hour-long program in support of Frey. On Thursday, she apologized to her viewers for making that call.

"I regret that phone call," she said. "I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter and I am deeply sorry about that. That is not what I believe."

Winfrey said her judgment had been clouded by the fact that so many had cited Frey's book as inspirational.

Famed publisher Nan Talese, who joined the program later on, told Winfrey that she learned about the inaccuracies in A Million Little Pieces through the Smoking Gun report.

Talese said that the "whole experience has been sad."

"It's not sad for me," Winfrey shot back. "It's embarrassing."

A Million Little Pieces climbed to the top of bestseller lists when the hugely influential Winfrey chose it for her show's book club in September 2005. Frey appeared on the popular show the following month.

Earlier this week, several addiction counsellors came forward to challenge Frey's memoir, much of which deals with his treatment at the Hazelden rehabilitation centre in rural Minnesota.

"His description of treatment at Hazelden is almost entirely false," counsellor Debra Jay told the New York Times.

"These are things that could not happen to anybody at Hazelden or at any reputable licensed treatment centre."

Jay, who has also appeared several times on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss alcohol and drug addiction, told the Times she had voiced her objections about A Million Little Pieces to a senior producer for Winfrey's show weeks before he appeared on the program.

Despite the questions about its authenticity, A Million Little Pieces remains high on bestseller lists, along with his sequel, My Friend Leonard.