Oprah Winfrey apologises to James Frey

New Delhi, (ANI): Media mogul Oprah Winfrey has apologised to author James Frey for slamming him on her famous chat show.

Winfrey claimed on her show that Frey had fabricated parts of his memoir titled 'A Million Little Pieces'. However, she has now apologised to the author, reports the China Daily. Winfrey's apology was first reported on the Web site of Vanity Fair, with the author saying that he felt "grateful" for Winfrey's gesture.

Winfrey and Frey share an age-old relationship, as Winfrey had been one of Frey's most vocal boosters, naming his 2003 drugs-and-alcohol memoir 'A Million Little Pieces' one of her "book club" choices in 2005 and propelling it to bestseller status.

However, the next year, when the book was revealed, it emerged that Frey had invented some details in the supposedly non-fiction memoir and written that he once spent three months behind bars when in reality it was a few hours. Thus, Winfrey lashed out at him when he appeared on her show.

"It is difficult for me to talk to you, because I really feel duped," Winfrey said earlier.

However, Winfrey and Frey appear to have reconciled. Frey revealed that Winfrey called him last fall to tell him "I felt I owe you an apology," and she explained that her lambasting of him sprang from her sense of feeling betrayed, according to the Vanity Fair report.

"It was a nice surprise to hear from her, and I really appreciated the call and the sentiment," Frey told Vanity Fair.

Winfrey's spokeswoman Angela DePaul, confirmed that the chat show host had called Frey up to apologise.