TV & VIDEO - May 25, 1989

The Chicago Sun-Times has dropped a gossip columnist who reported a rumor involving television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. Columnist Ann Gerber’s column was discontinued over “basic differences” with Kenneth Towers, vice president and executive editor, “involving the journalistic standards used in producing her column,” the newspaper said Tuesday night. Gerber’s “On the Town” column was run on a free-lance basis. This month she reported a rumor that Winfrey had returned home unexpectedly and caught her boyfriend in a tryst with her hairdresser. Winfrey issued a strongly worded denial on her nationally syndicated show. Gerber reportedly said in a subsequent television interview that she had no confirmation for the rumor but ran the item because it was being talked about.