Oprah Says Barbara Walters’ Struggles With Motherhood Made Her Never Want Kids

A new documentary about Walters explores the often strained relationship between the veteran journalist and her daughter, Jacqueline Guber

Oprah Winfrey is opening up about the many ways her “mentor” Barbara Walters impacted her life, both personally and professionally.

In the documentary “Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything,” due out later this month on Hulu, Winfrey recalls witnessing Walters’ “charged, complex relationship” with her daughter, Jacqueline Guber.

“It’s one of the reasons why I never had children,” Winfrey, who has been in a relationship with partner Stedman Graham since 1986, explains in the film. “I remember her telling me once that ‘there’s nothing more fulfilling than having children, and you should really think about it.’ And I was like, ‘OK, but I’m looking at you. So, no.’”

Walters, who died in 2022 at age 93, adopted her daughter with then-husband Lee Guber after several miscarriages. But as “Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything” shows, Walters had a difficult time balancing parenting with her high-profile career in television.

Growing up, Jacqueline Guber often butted heads with Walters, and experienced drug and alcohol addiction. As a teenager and young adult, her relationship with her famous mother often was strained.