Oprah & Nelson Mandela at school opening earlier this year. ( Photo: Khetha “Bouga” Mkhize )
A tearful Oprah Winfrey apologized on Monday to students and parents amid abuse allegations at her exclusive $40 million South African school for girls, the Independent reports. “I’ve disappointed you. I’m so sorry,” the talk show host said. A school matron stands accused of grabbing one girl by the throat and fondling another, while Winfrey suspended the principal for failing to respond.
Winfrey’s boarding school for underprivileged girls was intended as a model for the world, but the claims of abuse have led to soul-searching and recriminations. The allegations surfaced after one student ran away and told her family the situation had become intolerable. Winfrey has given the alleged victims her personal phone number and e-mail.
#51 says it all! Bump Oprah’s siddity self, shame she does not realize the inherent problems that is all over the world!
@60
Oprah was criticizing kids in America. In Africa, believe me the girls are thankful. If you read the article, even the parents don’t blame her.
But here, you see kids begging for freakin’ Jordans instead of worrying about their education. In Africa and India, we are begging for books and school uniforms, not Jordans.
People are just hating because they took it personal when Oprah said kids here are unthankful, which you know deep down is TRUE.
It is a question of perspective though, I don’t blame them, they have never seen what is a REAL bad school.
Do you guys think people in India, Africa or the rest of Asia have better schools than the schools in the ghetto???
But they still manage to come here and get in the best schools.
it’s about making the best out of every situation!!
@KEISHA
Keisha is talking like she’ve been to AFRICA or somethin’. I bet she has never been.
This debate is not about hunger , it is about education. And one more time, the most ghetto school in the United States is way better than the best school in my country.
I was tutoring at Tucson High School AZ, when I was undergraduate.I have been told, The school was not really good school. But all the equipements they have in there were better than what our freaking national university had.
so Please stop hating on Oprah.
She is fighting a good fight
GO OPRAH! TOO MANY INNER CITY KIDS ARE CHASIN ROCKS AND CHAINS. SHE SPENT HER MONEY IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
AS FAR AS THE BAD APPLES…THEY ARE IN EVERY COUNTRY.
AND THIS SHALL SOON PASS, OPRAH!
oprah is so white washed and don’t have a clue about what’s going on with american child. Why didn’t she help the student’s from Baltimore (Baraca) students.I guest the inner city of Baltimore is not poor enough for her to make the news. If a child from america becomes successful then they will help support america and africa, on the other hand if a african becomes successful they wouldn’t give a DAME! about an american negro.
Someone always has to come in between someone else trying to do good in the world! I hope that person gets what he deserves!
I wish she would build one in the United States because too many young african american girls are lost.
I BET NO ABUSE OCCURRED AT ALL. IN ORDER FOR CON ARTIST TO CONTINUALLY PICK YOUR POCKET THEIR MUST BE AN EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT. THEY ARE USING EVERYTHING THEY KNOW ABOUT OPRAH’S PAST TO PUSH HER BUTTONS. NOW THAT THEY HAVE HER PHONE NUMBER AND HAVE HER FEELING GUILTY, THEY’LL BE CALLING COSTANTLY FOR THIS AND THAT LOL LOL SHE IS THE BIGGEST FOOL EVER!
WATCH OUT FOR THE BILLION DOLLAR LAWSUITS NEXT! SHE WON’T STAND A CHANCE IN AMERICAN HATING SOUTH AFRICA.
she’ll be glad to give an honest american child an ipod and appreciate their honesty when the south african con artist get through with her. if she had half a brain she would know that all children want toys. those south africans were programmed to tell her what she wanted to hear.
These allegations are indeed saddening. I’m sure that Oprah is doing
all that she can to help ease their pain. Clearly, this is not a
reflection on Oprah. No one human being can oversee the world.
“Wherever there is good; evil lurks in wait”. We must remain strong
and determined to be GOD’s servants even in the face of adversity.
Instantly Turn your Computer into a Super TV!
http://www.television-on-internet.com/
I honestly believe that Oprah is a wonderful woman, and she wanted the best for those girls! A lot of these wealthy celebrity’s don’t give a dime of their money to a good cause. Oprah has always been the kind of person to do give more than receive, and she deserves respect for that! I don’t agree with her saying that American kids don’t value education or appreciate what they have though! There our a lot of kids here that are suffering too! I understand that a lot of Americans don’t value education and rather have the material things! But she should not put us all in that category! I always strive to teach my sibling to value education and to value what they have. We didn’t have parents to stress the importance of that to us! But I’m grateful to offer what I’ve learned to them. Africa is by far in worst condition than we are! They deserve that school, and we should not complain about what we don’t have compared to them. I think that help is needed here and in Africa! But we should not hold Oprah responsible for our problems. We need to help each other everywhere in the world! I don’t know about some of yall black folks on here, but those are our brothers and sisters over there! Or have some of you forgotten that! This is coming from the “so called materialistic African America 17 teen year old! Ps. I don’t like, nor do I wear Jordans or shoes that cause more than 12 dollars lol! But I value my walmart shoes lol!
Its BLACK AMERICANS who are unappreciative complain about every god damm thing.. Complain complain but don’t do shit else but complain. Caribbean people and other black countries aren’t so freakin ungrateful as Black Americans. Yall act like Oprah went to the school and molested the girls..Shit it was an individual and their superior did not report it to Oprah…It would have been another story if Oprah knew all along and did not do anything but that is NOT the case!
Cosign with #10, 29, 51!
@#57. WTF? Her home is where she resides….the US of America. This is her home.
Just like #10 said. Karma is a b!tch. F^ck Oprah!
Thank you #34 Didier Drogba. It always makes me laugh how some Americans (not all) talk about the African continent like it’s a country. You can’t just generalize and say ‘some of these ghetto projects look just like africa in some parts’. There are over 50 countries in Africa, one of them is South Africa and Eyram, I don’t know where you’re from, but I know for a fact that some of our schools here are just as good if not better than in the US, I went to private schools and University here in South Africa and I have never felt underprivileged. This incident could’ve happened anywhere in the world, we’re not con artists, we don’t hate America, but we do value our education! The impression we get from this side is that Americans value cars, big houses, hollywood, expensive labels and celebrity lifestyles, basically the stuff that doesn’t matter in life.
Karma is a bitch? This girl getting molested is Oprahs Karma? Yall sound dumb as hell.
It is not Oprah’s job to be building schools in the U.S. That it is up to the government. She did the right thing by trying to help out kids in Africa who do not have the same opportunites that we have here.
I don’t care if the school was built in Africa or America, I’m just glad that people of African descent are able to get a good education and if that means that it has to be in Africa then that’s fine with me. At least she’s helping us where she can and I say ‘us” because African-Americans and Africans are brothers and sisters regardless of geographical boundaries. I think the us versus them mentality needs to end.Either way, we both experience the same degree of oppression.
I’m glad that Oprah is rectifying the problem and hopefully they will develop a better interview and background check process of their current and new employees. I know many of us have experienced some unethical drama from our managers/co-workers that upper management had no idea was going on. This is just another prime example how upper management, CEO’s, and the powers that be need to keep an eye on those who they give responsibilities to. The abusive employee must’ve thought that she wouldn’t get caught. GOD is good ALL the time!
Man oprah is a great role modle for kids these days,her building that school taught my kids that they can be leaders too.it is so sad to hear what happend at the school but none of us should blame oprah for what some else did,if yall could just fill her pain it’s palpable.oprah snould no blame her self because she wasn’t there, she should keep her head up like she tells every one else. Keep your head up ma
Ditto @ # 37 & 75, some of ya’ll r so ignorant, generalizing Africa like its just one country & thinkin that all Africa is about poverty & disease & wateva else negative image thats been put out there by the media. U pple need to like perhaps, travel? get ur ass up off the couch & become learned dammit. & i can’t believe some of ya’ll r seriously complaining about the fact that Oprah built a skool in Africa & not the US. Boo hoo, can’t u just be happy that someone is doing something good 4 humankind, why does it matter where its at? U ignorant ass mufuckers. The whole situation @ Oprah’s skool is saddening but i hope this doesn’t stop her from continuing to do good 4 others, it’s not Oprah’s fault that wat happened happened & there’s always sick mufuckers out there who’ll take advantage of any situation. Keep doing ya thizzle Oprah.
@ #76, Youngin, yes it is unfortunate that someone was molested. But if you don’t know how karma works….Oh well, shut the f^ck up and don’t speak on it. Because I sure as hell am not about to explain it to you. Just shut the F^CK UP because you the one that sound dumb.
I am proud of Oprah for her attempt to create a better environment for the young ladies in Africa. And in retrospect, it was more than an attempt. She has given them a better chance at education and productive lives. I know she feels like it is her fault this happened, but she has to stop blaming herself when things don’t fall exactly into place and realize that she isn’t perfect. Honestly, this situation wasn’t her fault, but the woman who put her hands on a child like that should be severely punished to serve as a lesson and possibly refute other people from attempting to do the same thing. All in all, it is a wonderful idea that will come with trial and error, but will produce a greater good. Kudos to Oprah and the Children are in my prayers.
Since I’m a youngin take your old bitter ass back to your bridge. This time instead of crawling under it jump the hell off. lol Acting like you are too busy for something. Heffa please. You obviously dont have shit else but time. A person who believes that shit was an inevitable result of something Oprah did is just dumb. Ya sounded dumb when you first wrote that mess and all you did was confirm that you are indeed dumb as hell. lol
I’ve had a love/hate relationship for Oprah. But I really saw who she was when she made the comment about inner-city kids not valuing their education. Are you kidding me? I’ve interned at schools and Oprah has no earthly idea what inner-city kids realllly go through. I felt it was insulting to all inner-city kids. I just thank God Bill Gates doesn’t feel the same way. At least he did build a top-notched school for ALL kids. It’s so easy to dismiss the American youth. We do it so much, no wonder the kids don’t give a damn. I’m not saying that she should have built a school here in American as oppose to Africa, although it would’ve been awesome, but she doesn’t have to de-value American youth to get her point across. And as for the poster who stated that African Americans hate or dislike Africans, that dislike often swings both ways as well, particularly with the women. If you want African-Americans to do better, prosper, all that good shit, stop, please stop insulting one another. And Oprah will be just fine, but now she knows there are pedophiles, molesters, fast-girls, liars, cheaters, everywhere, not just in America.
i thing BLACK (dat comment) needs to look closly b4 he or she write anything cause africa is one of da poorest country and america is da richest not one of the them it is the richest so if some part of afica is more developed than america it the goverment fault. africa hasnt got as much money ameriac does.
idk oprah is my girl and all, only cuz she isn’t afraid to do her, but this school shit was a joke to begin with. in africa???? and when i hear the damn rules and regs wow
@ #83, you still talking? Didn’t a grown a$$ woman tell you to shut the f^ck up. Respect your elders before I beat you like you stole something. Real talk.
this fool is going to be conned out of every cent she has or sued out of it. she won’t stand a chance in black american hating south african courts. she’s going to be right back to the low life she came from. i won’t be sorry. anyone who forgets where they came from and helps everyone but their own people deserves what she gets.
she runs around making white people millionaires EVERY week on her show but a poor unknown black author or business person will get no exposure from her. the only thing she does for blacks is give them education and they still have to depend on white rascist to get a job. education without a job is just a head full of nonsense you soon forget.
THE ATTITUDE AND MENTALITY OF SOME AFRICAN AMERICANS TOWARDS OPRAH MAKES ME FUCKIN SICK. OPRAH CAME FROM NOTHING AND MADE HERSELF A HUGE EMPIRE AND A BILLIONAIRE, UNLIKE THE MANY SELF-DESTRUCTIVE AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO SIT ON THEIR LAZY ASSES, BLAMING THE WHITE MAN FOR ALL THEIR PROBLEMS. SHE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THIS COUNTRY’S ‘AMERICAN DREAM’, AND SHE DAMN WELL DESERVES EVERYTHING SHE GOT, CUZ IT WAS ALL HER HARD WORK. SHE MAKES ME PROUD 2 B AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN, BECAUSE HERE WE HAVE A WOMAN WHO RESPECTS HERSELF AND THOSE AROUND HER, AND DOESN’T SINK TO USING NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES ABOUT BLACK WOMEN. SHE DONT CALL HERSELF A BITCH OR A HOE AND IS INTELLIGENT AND ARTICULATE. I SUPPOSE THE HATERS WOULD LOVE IT IF SHE WHORED HERSELF LIKE LIL’ KIM OR TRINA OR BUFFIE THE BODY OR ANY OF THE OTHER SO-CALLED BLACK FEMALE ROLE MODELS WHO ARE DESTROYING OUR IMAGE, AND TALKS EBONICS AND SHARES RECIPES FOR FRIED CHICKEN AND WATERMELON ON HER SHOW
THESE FUCKIN COONING RAPPERS LIKE 50, LUDA AND ICE NEED TO FUCK THEMSELVES 4 DISSING HER CUZ SHES DOING A LOT MORE TO PROMOTE A POSITIVE IMAGE OF HERSELF THAN THEY IGNORANT, POORLY EDUCATED ASSES ARE.
NEWSFLASH: OPRAH DOES A HELL OF A LOT FOR ALL ETHNIC GROUPS. SHE DOESNT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANYONE BECUZ SHE DOESNT HAVE AN INWARD THINKING TO LIFE. WHERE A HUMAN BEING HAS A PROBLEM SHE DEALS WITH IT. ITS ADMIRABLE THAT SHE DOESNT USE THE RACE CARD IN HER SHOWS. HER SHOW CATERS TO ALL PEOPLE, NOT WHITE WOMEN, LIKE U IGNORANT FOOLS CALL HER. GUESS WHAT? BLACKS WHO SAY SHE’S OUT TOUCH WITH BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA–NO!! YOU’RE THE ONES WHO ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE REST OF SOCIETY.
SHE HELPED PUT 250 BLACK MEN THROUGH COLLEGE (MOOREHOUSE) AND PLEDGED MILLIONS FOR HURRICAINE KATRINA VICTIMS. SHE OPPOSED THE IRAQ WAR, AND U KNOW WHAT?? SHE RECIEVED LOTS OF ‘GO BACK TO AFRICA’ HATEMAIL BY THOSE REDNECK, REPUBLICAN JINGOISTS WHO INTERPRET ANY CRITICISM AS ANTI-AMERICAN.
SHE CANT HELP OUT THIS COUNTRY’S EDUCATION SYSTEM-SO SHE HAD EVERY RIGHT NOT TO BUILD IT HERE CUZ LIKE SHE SAID IN JANUARY-AMERICAN CHILDREN (OF ALL RACES, FOR THOSE WHO THINK SHES SINGLING OUT AFRICAN AMERICAN) DONT VALUE EDUCATION THE WAY THEY DO IN AFRICA. WE HAVE A FREE EDUCATION SYSTEM, AND EVEN THE POOREST COMMUNITIES HERE HAVE ACCESS TO THAT IF THEY’RE WILLING TO WORK HARD. WHAT’S LACKING IS THE MINDEST AND POSITIVE ATTITUDE TO EDUCATION. PARENTS ARENT DOING ENOUGH TO PRIORITISE THEIR KIDS EDUCATION AND KIDS ARE TOO WRAPPED UP IN TOYS AND WATCHING TV AND MINDLESS ‘IDOLS’ OF THEIR’S. NOT A GOOD FOOTING FOR DEVELOPMENT.
SHE IS HANDLING THIS SITUATION WITH GRACE AND HONESTY, AND ISN’T BACKING DOWN AND BETRAYING THESE POOR SOUTH AFRICAN GIRLS. SHE STILL CARES ABOUT THEM, AND IS DOING EVERYTHING IN HER POWER TO FIND A SOLUTION. BRAVO OPRAH, U CAN’T PLEASE EVERYONE!
Oprah is a great role modle for our children these days,she helps out worthy causes and helps people that are in need, just because she bulit a school in africa dose not mean she is turning her back on us
what I think is yall should stop hating oprah for what she did in africa,and start empowering your kids to grow up with respect and stop calling our women bitches and hoes,because these people in america don’t play.and as for what happened at her school she should not blame her self because it is not her faught,she wanted to provide a safe invironment for them and she is doing that with her heart so go head mama oprah .
how is this could be opera’s fault. she hired someone to be responsible uunder some rules she had put and has failed. god helps you opera wish the world has many operas to be better..
sos for a primery school in haiti.
Oprah is Obama’s WHORE! She left thirty million dollars to her DOGS and she is worth four BILLION dollars. Do you think she cares really?? she just cares about her NAME and being embarrassed mz pitch a fit cuz she couldn’t get in to Hermes after hours…
God I hope everything she touches turns to SHIT from now on!!