Cindy Crawford slams Oprah Winfrey for making her 'stand up and show her body' during interview

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By Asiya Ali

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Cindy Crawford has taken aim at talk show host Oprah Winfrey over a controversial interview from 1986.

The 57-year-old legendary supermodel reflected on the time she appeared on the famous TV host's show when she was a young model in a new Apple TV documentary, The Super Models.

The film spotlights the careers of iconic modeling stars Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Crawford, who rose to fame in the late Eighties and dominated the fashion industry for decades.

Check out The Super Models trailer below:

Before Crawford became a household name, she was given an introduction to the nation when she made her first-ever appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside her Elite Modeling Agency representative, John Casablancas.

In the snippet shown in the documentary, the 69-year-old host is heard introducing the stunning young model before she asks: "Did she always have this body? Stand up just a moment, now this is what I call a BODY."

The model then proceeded to flash a nervous smile before standing up and allowing the audience - and viewers at home - to take a look at her outstanding physique.

Nearly four decades after the episode aired, the now-older model has mixed feelings about the TV appearance and revealed in the new docuseries that she felt like "chattel" throughout the interview.

"I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard," she said, continuing: "When you look at it through today's eyes, Oprah's like, 'Stand up and show me your body. Show us why you're worthy of being here.'"

Although it was acceptable in the eighties, the mother-of-two has a very different response to the incident and empathizes with her younger self.

"In the moment I didn’t recognize it and watching it back I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that was so not okay really.' Especially from Oprah," Crawford remarked.

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Cindy Crawford is known as one of the original supermodels. Credit: Vinnie Zuffante / Getty

According to The Mirror, Winfrey directed questions about Crawford to her representative in the same interview, even asking him if the model was put through a "training period".

"With Cindy, it was much more psychologically she was not sure she really wanted to model… little by little, her ambition is growing," he responded. "She’s getting a sense, and I’m saying it now on this program, if she wants to she can be number one in the business."

Casablancas was right as Crawford went on to become one of the world’s most high-profile models, appearing on hundreds of magazine covers, runway shows, and even in the iconic music video for George Michael's 'Freedom! '90'.

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Campbell, Crawford, Turlington, and Evangelista star in the docuseries. Credit: Jeff Spicer / Getty

However, the brunette beauty offers an intriguing glimpse into the hard work she put in to be taken seriously during the early days of her career in the four-part documentary.

While the docuseries showcases the exceptional beauty of the four women, it will also spotlight the heartbreaking issues they faced, such as domestic abuse, racial inequality, and addiction.

The Super Models is now available to stream on Apple TV+.

Featured image credit: Miikka Skaffari / Getty