All of the 276 audience members Oprah gifted a free Pontiac to had to pay $6-7K fee once the cameras stopped rolling
Published on Sep 15, 2025 at 5:01 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Sep 15, 2025 at 5:01 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
All of the audience members who Oprah gifted a free Pontiac to had to pay a fee of up to $7,000 once the cameras stopped rolling.
One of The Oprah Winfrey Show’s most famous moments was the star screaming, ‘You get a car, you get a car, and you get a car’, promising each of her audience members a free Pontiac.
That episode is one of the show’s most famous, with many praising the host’s generosity.
Unfortunately, it ended on a somewhat sour note.
DISCOVER OUR SUPERCAR AUCTION SITE – View live auctions on SBX Cars
How many Pontiac cars did Oprah give away?
The concept for the giveaway was started by Oprah Winfrey’s best friend, Gayle King.
This was revealed in a podcast titled ‘Making Oprah: The inside story of a TV revolution‘
King met an executive from Pontiac on a flight, and the company then offered 25 cars for the show as a giveaway.
But the producers pushed the company to give a new Pontiac G6 to every member of the studio audience.
That meant there were 276 cars to give away, which at the time of the show was worth $7.7 million.
Winfrey and the show’s producers also made sure the cars were given to those who really needed a new one.
However, after the episode aired, it wasn’t so well-received.
The prize winners had to pay thousands
Unfortunately, each recipient had to pay tax on their new car, and not a small amount either.
As they were gifts, the Pontaics were all taxed as ordinary income.
The gift tax is paid by the person giving the gift, and in 2004, the rate was 48 percent.
The show’s producers, to their credit, paid for the sales tax and registration of the car.
They even said that if they didn’t want to pay the tax on the cars, they could take cash for it instead.
The issue surrounding the tax for the Pontiacs caused a lot of outcry in the press.
Producer Lisa Erspamer said it was quite devastating to the show.
It still remains an iconic TV moment, albeit not one that ended as happily as everyone wanted.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.
