Gayle King tells ET that although the producer is disappointed in the missed Oscar nods, she isn't throwing any pity parties.
There are no pity parties being thrown at Oprah Winfrey's house! Gayle King chatted with ET's Denny Directo at Clive Davis' annual pre-GRAMMY Gala on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, where she shared her good friend's reaction to the lack of recognition for The Color Purple -- which Winfrey produced -- from this year's Oscar nominations.
The nominees for the 96th Academy Awards were announced last month, and featured some shockers and heartbreaking misses. While the Blitz Bazawule-directed reimagining of the classic story adapted from the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker seemed like a shoo-in for a Best Picture or Best Original Song nod, it was mostly left out in the cold. The picture's sole nomination was earned by Danielle Brooks for Best Supporting Actress.
According to King, the cast and crew aren't letting any disappointment take away from Brooks' nomination or their pride in their work.
"I just look at The Color Purple in general -- the movie is a knockout. I was bummed it didn't get nominated for an Oscar, but it's still such a great movie and I won't let anybody dim the light on that, so we are all pulling for Danielle," King told ET.
As for Winfrey, King shared that she is "disappointed," but the media mogul "also knows the beauty of the movie, so she's not having a pity party or crying about it."
"She's really fine, but we were all hoping it was nominated because it's good," she added.
Winfrey certainly seemed in high spirits when she appeared on the GRAMMY Awards stage to introduce Color Purple star Fantasia Barrino's show-stopping tribute to Tina Turner on Sunday night!
Similarly, Barrino was glowing as she gave the audience a captivating, uplifting rendition of "Proud Mary" in honor of the late Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, who died last May. The singer-actress lit the stage on fire while shimmering in gold fringe and owning the spotlight.
It was a particularly poignant performance for Barrino, who performed the cover 20 years after she first sang the song on national television at her audition for American Idol's third season in 2004. Her rendition of the song led then-judge Simon Cowell to call her "one of the best" singers the show had seen up to that point. Cowell was right, as Barrino ultimately won and was crowned the show's third American Idol.
Barrino expressed her gratitude for the performance on social media, posting several photos from her night at the GRAMMYs on Instagram.
"This one was for you Queen, @tinaturner!! Thank you @recordingacademy for having me!! ✨✨," she began the caption of her post.
"What an honor it was having 2 of Tina Turners dancers of 14 years perform with me! @fatima_noir, thank you and your entire team for teaching me all the choreography! @adamblackstone, the musical arrangement was just what we needed," she wrote. "Thanks @oprah for introducing me to the stage. To my entire team, I LOVE YA'LL!!! Lastly, thank you GOD... You met me on stage just as I asked you to!!"
See more amazing moments from Sunday night's GRAMMY Awards below.
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