Oprah's School Scandal Takes Recess
Newly minted Golden Globe nominee Oprah Winfrey was forced to take her good news with a little bit of bad Thursday.
Just as word broke that the talk-show magnate-produced drama The Great Debaters scored a nomination for Best Picture from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association came news that another international body, a South African court, has postponed proceedings in the case against the disgraced dorm matron from Winfrey's all-girl school.
The Sebokeng Magistrate Court Thursday delayed the case against 27-year-old Virginia Mokgobo, giving the former employee of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls slightly more than a month to consult with her lawyer over the case.
Mokgobo was arrested in November and subsequently pleaded not guilty to 13 counts, including indecent assault, common assault, soliciting or enticing a minor to perform indecent acts and verbal abuse stemming from a series of alleged abusive run-ins with at least six students aged 13-15 and one aged 23. She was made free after posting bail of roughly $450.
Magistrate Arend van Wielligh granted the brief reprieve to allow Mokgobo time to meet with her attorneys; she was ordered back to the court on Jan. 16. At that time, Wielligh is also expected to set a trial date for the case.
Mokgobo appeared in the courtroom Thursday though did not speak during the brief hearing. She received a heavy police escort to shield her from the even heavier concentration of media congregated outside the courthouse and covered her face with a towel upon making her backdoor exit.
Meanwhile, Winfrey, who previously said that the revelation of abuse at her school was one of the most devastating moments of her life and who has apologized both publicly and privately to the girls involved in the abuse, denied earlier this week that she regretted, even for a moment, opening the academy.
"I think that all crisis is there to teach you about your life," she told People at the Los Angeles premiere of The Great Debaters Tuesday. "You have to be far more careful in choosing people to stand in the gap for you. You have to stay on it."
Still, Winfrey said her main priority through the ordeal was perseverance.
"Just work on it, focus on the girls, focus on the girls, focus on the girls. And the girls are now fine," she said. "The school is going to be better because that happened. We're going to come back and have the best year ever."
By the looks of it, 2008 is shaping up to be a pretty good for Winfrey as well.
The latest flick from Harpo Films, The Great Debaters, received three major Golden Globe nominations Thursday morning: Best Picture, Best Director for Ridley Scott and Best Actor for Denzel Washington.
"We are grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for recognizing The Great Debaters with this nomination," she said of the Best Picture nod. "This film is a tribute to all those who strive to exceed expectations, especially those who were determined to be successful in a time when no one though they could.
"We are very proud of this film, its message and its artistry."
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