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Great Press for Winfrey, but Will She Talk?

Tue., Oct. 30, 2007 5:05 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com, Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Oprah Winfrey tearfully begged students at her all-girls school in South Africa for forgiveness on Sunday following allegations of abuse by staffers there. But now it looks like the talk-show queen may be facing the media to answer questions about the ordeal.

I'm told that Winfrey is set to embark on a full-throttle publicity blitz for The Great Debaters, Denzel Washington’s new movie, which Ms. O coproduced. Not only is Washington the star of the movie, he also directed it.

First up, I hear that Winfrey and Washington will likely be appearing on not one, but at least two magazine covers together. A source tells me the two are supposed to be shot for the covers of Ebony and newspaper magazine supplement Parade.

Washington’s rep confirmed that the joint covers are in the works. “The magazine requests are in, and we’re trying to figure out how to accommodate them,” the rep said.

Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, The Great Debaters

David Lee/The Weinstein Company 2007

Inspired by a true story, The Great Debaters tells the story of Melvin Tolson (Washington), a college professor at a small African-American college in the deep South who coaches the school’s first debate team into a national championship face-off with Harvard. Costars include fellow Oscar winner Forest Whitaker.

Buzz is strong on the movie, which hits theaters Dec. 25. I’m told it received a standing ovation last week when it was screened for theater owners during the ShowEast convention in Orlando, Florida.