Posted by Adam

Wednesday March 17, 2010

MEDIA mogul Oprah Winfrey has been told she must defend a defamation case filed against her by the former headmistress of her girls’ school in South Africa.

The case arose after the talk show titan allegedly made remarks about Nomvuho Mzamane in 2007, after sex abuse complaints arose at the school.

Winfrey had allegedly said she “lost confidence” in Mzamane and was “cleaning house from top to bottom.”

A dorm matron was later charged with abusing six students.

Judge Eduardo Robreno refused to dismiss the legal action on Monday, saying  Mzamane had enough evidence to pursue her claim.

Oprah’s lawyers argued that her remarks reflected her own opinion.

“The implication that [Mzamane] was aware of abuse by the dorm parents and did not react accordingly is capable of defamatory meaning as it ascribes conduct which would render her unfit for her profession as an educator,” said Robreno.

The school was opened in Johannesburg in 2007 at a cost of $40m.

Winfrey pledged to build the academy after a meeting with former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2002, and personally interviewed many of the South African girls from low-income families who applied for the initial 150 places at the school.

The case will go to trial March 29 in Philadelphia.

Tags: oprah winfrey