Chattel meaning explained as Cindy Crawford calls out Oprah Winfrey over 1986 interview

Cindy Crawford, the iconic model and actress, recently opened up about her interaction with Oprah Winfrey nearly 40 years ago in the Apple TV+ documentary, The Super Models, which premiered on September 20, 2023. In a clip from the documentary, Crawford talked about her 1986 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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She recalled how during the show, Oprah asked her to stand up in front of the audience, before saying, "This is unbelievable. Stand up just a moment, now this is what I call a body." As per the Independent, the House of Style actress said on the Apple TV+ documentary:

"I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard."

Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that a chattel is "an enslaved person held as the legal property of another." Cindy expressed how times have changed and she did not recognize the offense at the moment, but is reflecting on it years later.

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Cindy Crawford describes her experience at the 1986 Oprah Winfrey Show

The Apple TV+ series, The Super Models, revolves around Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington and their careers during the 80s and 90s. On September 20, 2023, the first episode of the show aired with Crawford sitting in front of the camera in a black leather jacket and black dress.

According to Hollywood Life, she recalled an incident with Oprah Winfrey during the show. Looking back, the Catwalk actress said she made an appearance in The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986 alongside the founder of Elite Model Management, John Casablancas.

She was sitting near the talk show host when Oprah asked her to “stand up [for] just a moment.” Oprah then looked at the audience, saying, "This is what I call a body." The docuseries also showed the clip mentioned by Crawford.

Cindy Crawford spoke up about the incident, saying:

"I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard. When you look at it through today’s eyes, Oprah’s like … ‘Show us why you’re worthy of being here.'"

She continued:

"Watching it back I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that was so not OK really. Especially from Oprah!"

The actress also discussed her family and her career in the docuseries.

According to Page Six, she revealed her experiences during her modeling career. She opened up about her father, John Crawford, not being on board with her acting career, saying:

"My dad really didn’t understand that modeling was a real career. He thought modeling was, like, another name for prostitution.”

The 57-year-old model also talked about the debate regarding the mole next to her lips, as per The Hollywood Life. She said the mark was "always a discussion,” at the start of her career but it all stopped when she was on the covers of the U.S. Vogue in August and October 1986.

As per NPR, she earned an academic scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern University after graduating from high school in 1984. In the beginning, Crawford reportedly wanted to become a nuclear physicist or the first woman president, as per Page Six.

However, she told Vanity Fair in 2016 that doing her first shoot changed her life. She expressed:

"I went to Chicago, ended up signing with Elite, and from there started doing catalog shoots as well as working with Victor Skrebneski, the most important photographer in Chicago. This one photograph opened my eyes to a whole new world and started me down the path of modeling."

Cindy Crawford retired from full-time modeling in 2000.

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On September 14, Cindy Crawford walked the Vogue World 2023 runway with her The Super Models co-stars Naomi Campbell, and Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington.