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Did Jenny McCarthy ditch Oprah's network?

Over the last few years, the actress seemed all but guaranteed to take her rightful place in the pantheon of Oprah's Favorite Things, thanks in part to the development deal she brokered with OWN back in 2009.
/ Source: E!online

Uh O. Over the last few years, Jenny McCarthy seemed all but guaranteed to take her rightful place in the pantheon of Oprah's Favorite Things: Human Beings Edition (just below John Travolta and Maria Shriver, obviously), thanks not only to her increasing appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in its final season (miss you already!) but to the development deal she brokered with OWN back in 2009. But all those brownie points seemed to fly right out the window this morning, when a report surfaced claiming that McCarthy was unhappy with the creative direction at OWN and had subsequently upped sticks from the ratings-shy cable net and headed to the much more viewer-friendly shores of NBC.

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But is it true? Would Jenny (or any mere mortal, for that matter) really risk the wrath of Oprah? Did she really bail on her friend? Don't touch that dial just yet, because this rumor is... So false! Though that's not to say that McCarthy will be turning up on OWN's airwaves anytime soon. "As discussed, the report by Fox411.com is inaccurate," a rep for the Oprah-backed cable net tells E! News. In fact—and this may come as a shock to you—it turns out, this whole story was the result of some serious twisting of facts by Fox News. We'll wait while you catch your breath.

"There were never any plans to do a show with Jenny McCarthy for OWN," the rep explained. "Harpo Studios was working with her to develop a potential syndicated series. They mutually agreed not to move forward with the project and we all wish her well." While it seems unnecessary to point out, we'll do it anyway: though both are backed by O, Harpo Studios is a different entity altogether from OWN. So, McCarthy won't be appearing on OWN because there were never any plans for her to appear on OWN in the first place? Seems pretty cut and dry to us. As yet, there's no word from NBC on whether or not McCarthy will indeed be sending her hosting skills their way.