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Nomvuyo Mzamane, the former headmistress of Oprah Winfrey's South African Leadership Academy for Girl, is suing Oprah for defamation of character (among other things).
The educator says Oprah blamed her for the molestation scandal that rocked the school last year and "launched what amounted to a defamatory campaign" against her, according to People.
The suit alleges that Oprah implied Mzamane was "untrustworthy, failed the students of the academy, did not care about the students at the academy, knew of alleged physical and sexual abuse at the academy and participated in a cover-up of the alleged abuse."
The headmistress wanted Oprah to publicly set the record straight, to say that she had been mistaken and that Mzamane had not covered up the abuse.
Her lawyer, Tim McGowan, told People:
[Oprah] went on TV and ruined [Mzamane's] reputation. So she wanted her to go back on TV and restore her reputation."
But Oprah would not do that, so Mzamane filed suit against her on Friday.
The former headmistress — who has not been able to find work since Oprah said on TV that she covered up abuse at the South African school — wants $50,000 for each of five different claims, including defamation by innuendo and intentional inflection of emotional distress, plus unspecified punitive damages.
Oprah has not commented. (Maybe it's better that way.)
[ Photo: People ]
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