Gossip: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey this week lashed out at a South African court that acquitted a woman accused of molesting young girls at her Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, said TMZ.com. In a statement, Winfrey said she was “profoundly disappointed” by the verdict that freed matron Tiny Virginia Makopo, accused of abusing six girls at the $40 million school in 2007. Winfrey, who claims she was sexually abused as a child, also praised the “courage and conviction” of the nine girls who testified against Makopo at the trial. A judge ruled that the government hadn’t proved its case “beyond a reasonable doubt.’’