(Xinhuanet) -- Uh, oh, TV doctor Phil McGraw has raised the ire of one-time booster Oprah Winfrey who has told the National Enquirer she has had it with her former protege because of his controversial meeting with Britney Spears. "Oprah is furious," an insider told the magazine. "She expected Phil to apologize before the situation got out of hand. Instead he used the spotlight to tout his struggling talk show. ... Oprah thinks he has completely lost his sense of right and wrong." Having handled scandals of her own, Winfrey is angry about how McGraw's handled his public embarrassment. "Oprah has made mistakes but the difference is that she's known when to step back and apologize," a friend revealed. "She feels Phil should have done that when he had the chance. ... He betrayed her trust."
A show source told the Enquirer that Winfrey cautioned McGraw before, and her angry reaction was "coming for a long time." Seems the two clashed over several issues in the past. In 2005, McGraw "threw a hissy fit" when Winfrey's close pal Maria Shriver failed to wrangle hubby Arnold Schwarzenegger to introduce him at an obesïty conference. He also earned Winfrey's ire after his "Shape Up!" dïet products failed to deliver and later led to a 10.5 million U.S. döllar settlement.
Phil may have his own show, but getting on Winfrey's bad side carries a hefty price. "Phil got a whopping 75 million dollar deal, but Oprah is still his boss," another close source explained. "She even has control of what time slots he's in. If she doesn't want him around, she can make him disappear."