--- title: Oprah Winfrey Shares Origin of You Get a Car Moment description: She explains that it was totally improvised canonical: https://time.com/4123415/oprah-you-get-a-car-origin/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-21T16:33:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:55.844Z og:title: Oprah Shares Real Story Behind Iconic 'You Get a Car!' Moment og:description: For starters, it was totally improvised og:url: https://time.com/4123415/oprah-you-get-a-car-origin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca60a42fa45d7d7f/698868f23c1639080245a4b8/oprah.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1799 og:image:height: 1012 og:image:alt: CBS This Morning og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Oprah Shares Real Story Behind Iconic 'You Get a Car!' Moment twitter:description: For starters, it was totally improvised twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca60a42fa45d7d7f/698868f23c1639080245a4b8/oprah.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Oprah Shares the Real Story Behind Her Iconic 'You Get a Car!' Moment > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Oprah Gives Away 'Essence' Magazine Cover Dress To Twitter Follower [Watch (HLS stream): Oprah Gives Away 'Essence' Magazine Cover Dress To Twitter Follower](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nKvAJzLW.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2014-03-07. When Atlanta resident Brandi saw Oprah Winfrey on the cover of Essence Magazine’s March issue, she fell in love with O’s over-the-top gown. She Tweeted the media mogul asking if she could have it. And it turns out, ask and you shall receive._ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Nov 21, 2015 4:33 PM UTC  Oprah Winfrey visits CBS This Morning with Co-hosts Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Oprah Winfrey visits CBS This Morning with Co-hosts Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Heather Wines—CBS/Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Nov 21, 2015 4:33 PM UTC “You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!” It’s been eleven years since Oprah Winfrey shouted those now-iconic words. On Sept. 13, 2004, the media mogul gave each member of her audience a Pontiac G6 — and it quickly became one of the most memorable Oprah moments of all time. Even now, a decade later, it continues to generate [meme after meme](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/oprahs-you-get-a-car). In a [recent interview ](http://www.etonline.com/tv/176367%5Fexclusive%5Foprah%5Fwinfrey%5Fexplains%5Ficonic%5Fyou%5Fget%5Fa%5Fcar%5Fmoment/)with _Entertainment Tonight,_ Winfrey revealed how that moment happened. For starters, it was totally improvised: “I was saying that because people were screaming so loudly they didn’t know what was going on,” Winfrey explained. She had just given every audience member a box and said only one of them contained a key. So naturally they were confused when _everyone_ started jumping up and down with excitement. “Prior to that moment, I had said, ‘Open up your boxes. One person has a key.’ So when I looked at the faces of the audience, they go, ‘But I have a key … but she has a key,’ so that’s why I said, ‘You get a car! You get a car!’ to try to clarify, because they all looked so confused. Everybody gets a car!” Years later, Winfrey [called](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAscBCdaQg) the giveaway one of her “all-time, favorite, happiest moments ever.” ## Transcript You get a dress, and you get a dress. Okay, just one woman gets a dress. When Atlanta resident Brandi saw Oprah Winfrey on the cover of Essence Magazine's March issue, she fell in love with O's over the top gown. So, on a whim, she tweeted the media mogul asking if she could have it. Quote, Cuz I know you won't wear it again. And it turns out, ask and you shall receive. Oprah responded to Brandi's tweet, saying she was right, and that the dress was Brandi's for the taking. A week later, the dress showed up at Brandi's house, and she's got big plans for it. Brandi tweeted that she intends to wear the structured Brian Rennie for Basler gown with it's ombre feathered and fringed skirt at her wedding. Once she finds a groom. And Oprah's gifting got the magazines stamp of approval. Essence said, At moments like this are why we love social media and our March cover girl Oprah. Of course, this is just the latest good deed from the star. She regularly gave away big gifts on her daytime talker. And even auctioned off hundreds of her personal belongings last fall raising more than $ 600, 000 for charity. Oprah wrote about that experience in her magazine. Instead of feeling walled in by stuff, I want to feel surrounded by calm. As for all of those gifts given by all those people, well, I took a deep breath and opted to hang on to the generosity of the gesture. But, I was finally ready to let somebody else enjoy all my stuff. Thanks for watching. I'm Brice Sander. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4123415/oprah-you-get-a-car-origin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4123415/oprah-you-get-a-car-origin/"},"headline":"Oprah Shares the Real Story Behind Her Iconic 'You Get a Car!' 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