Oprah Winfrey won’t have to be in a Philadelphia court room next week after all. She has settled a defamation lawsuit by the former headmistress of the girls’ school in South Africa established by Winfrey. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the two former friends patched things up in a heart-to-heart chat.
“The two parties met woman to woman without their lawyers and are happy that they could resolve this dispute peacefully to their mutual satisfaction,” said a statement emailed to news media outlets. It is not known whether Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane received any financial settlement. She had sued Winfrey for $250,000.
Mzamane, a former administrator of the Germantown Friends School in Pennsylvania, was formerly the headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. She was removed following a sex abuse scandal involving a dormitory matron at the school. Mzamane had claimed she was unable to find work for some time after her public dismissal by Winfrey, who stated that she had “lost confidence” in Mzamane. The educator now works in Kenya.
