Oprah Explains Why Stedman Is Self-Quarantining In The Guesthouse

Oprah Winfrey and her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, are, separately, practicing social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The media mogul held an Instagram Live with O, The Oprah Magazine on Monday from her home in Santa Barbara, California, where she discussed how she has responded to the global spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. 

In the video, Winfrey talked about eating leftovers that day alongside house guests Thando and Sadé, two graduates from her school in South Africa, according to O Magazine. 

“You’ll notice there’s the girls in the kitchen, there’s Sadie (Winfrey’s dog) in the kitchen … there’s no Stedman in the kitchen,” Winfrey said, adding, “Stedman is at the guesthouse.”

Winfrey later explained that Graham, an author, had recently been traveling by plane for various speaking engagements and arrived at their home this past Thursday.

The mogul also noted that she had pneumonia late last year and that Graham was “late to the party” with understanding the severity of the coronavirus crisis. 

“And that’s why Stedman’s at the guesthouse,” she quipped. 

Winfrey later noted that, prior to arriving home, Graham asked her: “What’s the procedure for coming home?”

“The procedure is you ain’t coming and sleeping in my bed,” she said she told Graham. She later added that she asked him, “Have you not been paying attention to the news? Social distancing doesn’t mean you’re going to go sleep in the bed with the person when you have just got off of American Airlines!” 

“We’re taking it very seriously,” she continued. 

Winfrey then explained that she walks by their guesthouse to visit Graham and leaves meals for him at the door. 

In a video posted to O Magazine’s official Instagram page on Monday, Graham can be seen in the window of the guesthouse talking to Winfrey, as she films from outside. 

“Although he does not have the virus, the couple decided that Stedman should quarantine separately in the guest house after several recent flights and some business travel,” the caption for the video read in part. 

Elsewhere in her Instagram Live on Monday, Winfrey joked that she was the “exact opposite” of Sabrina Dhowre Elba, who’s married to actor Idris Elba. 

Dhowre Elba revealed to Winfrey via FaceTime on Apple TV Plus’ “Oprah Talks COVID-19” on Sunday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 a week after she appeared in a video alongside “The Wire” actor, who publicly announced his positive diagnosis.

Dhowre Elba told Winfrey that she “made the decision to want to be with him” after learning about his diagnosis and before she got tested.

Elba explained to Winfrey that they had been together on the day of his probable exposure to the virus. 

“If I had caught it, she had certainly caught it in that time period, as well,” he said. “People were right to have highlighted that spatial distance is important. I think given the context of the video, which was really about me telling the world what has happened to us, we weren’t thinking about that specifically.”