Defamation suit against Oprah Winfrey set for trial

A jury will decide whether Oprah Winfrey defamed the former headmistress of her South African girls school when talking about an abuse scandal in 2007, a federal judge ruled.

A trial is set to begin on March 29 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the defamation lawsuit filed by Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane against the talk show host and her production company, Harpo.

“Oprah and Harpo await the opportunity to present the case in court,” Winfrey’s lawyer, Chip Babcock, said Tuesday.

Mzamane was immediately suspended and later fired after several students at Winfrey’s South African leadership academy complained about abuse. A dorm mother was later charged with abusing and assaulting students.

The lawsuit contends that Winfrey’s statements at a private meeting with parents — which later became public — and at a news conference defamed the headmistress by implying she knew of the abuse and covered it up.

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Pictured: Television host Oprah Winfrey speaks at a campaign rally lead by Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), for her husband in Pauley Pavilion at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on February 3, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. Presidential candidates and their supporters are scrambling for votes in the final two days before Super Tuesday primaries on February 5. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images).