Oprah Winfrey settles defamation suit out of court

Oprah Winfrey has made an out-of-court settlement with the former headmistress of her South African girls academy over a defamation suit.

Meeting privately, without lawyers, the two women came to agreement just days before the defamation case was to go on trail in the Philadelphia federal court next week.

However, a statement issued by attorneys for both sides did not spell out anything about a financial settlement while a spokesman for Winfrey's production company maintained silence over any money changing hands.

According to the statement, Winfrey and Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane "met woman to woman without their lawyers" to "resolve this dispute peacefully to their mutual satisfaction," reports the New York Post.

Mzamane was seeking 250,000 dollars in damages, if reports are to be believed – but Winfrey's lawyers say the ex-headmistress never specified any amount in court papers.

Mzamane, the ex-headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, had claimed Winfrey made defamatory comments against her after a sex-abuse scandal shook the school in 2007.

m