Oprah Winfrey maybe known the world over for her multi-award winning talk show, but she herself has once again landed into a legal hassle by voicing her opinion through the media.
A defamation case has been filed against Oprah, by the former headmistress of her South Africa-based girl’s academy and a Philadelphia judge has set March 29 as the trial date for this $250,000 defamation suit.
Oprah Winfrey, also known as the greatest black philanthropist in American history, set up the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, in Meyerton, South of Johannesburg, South Africa, after a request from Nelson Mandela. The $ 40 million, state of the art school was set up with the objective of providing education to girls belonging to impoverished backgrounds in South Africa.
In October 2007, just 10 months after the school’s opening, a dorm matron at the school was accused of physically and sexually abusing students. Oprah at that time, cancelled the contract of the then headmistress - Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane and told parents and the media that "I trusted her". "When I appointed her, I thought she was passionate about the children of Africa . . . but I have been disappointed."
Mzamane, filed the case saying Winfrey’s above comments made it impossible for her to find work for nearly a year .Winfrey, being the influential person she is tried to have the suit thrown out. But on Monday, a federal judge dismissed her request.
Oprah has once before, been able to successfully fend off a $12 million suit filed several years ago by a group of Texas cattlemen who claimed she defamed beef in a Philadelphia federal courtroom , let’s wait and watch if she gets lucky in the same city’s courtroom again.
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