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Oprah sued by ex employee

Monday, October 12, 2009
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Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King
A former employee of billionaire Oprah Winfrey is suing the talk-show queen for almost $335,000 over allegations the employee enjoyed a sex romp on Winfrey's $42 million private jet.

Former flight attendant, Corrine Gehrls, was accused of sleeping with the pilot, Terry Pansing, during a re-fuelling stop while Winfrey slept close by. Both staff accused were fired a short time later for "inappropriate intimate behaviour", the UK's Daily Mail reports.

In pictures: Oprah Winfrey

Both the chief pilot, Pansing, 57 and Gehrls, 39, deny the event took place and even took lie detector tests in an attempt to prove their innocence. The polygraph showed in favour of the pair.

The lawsuit alleges that the story was concocted by Kirby Bumpus, a fellow flight attendant and daughter of Winfrey's close friend Gayle King, due to a work dispute.

Gehrls claims Winfrey knew the sex allegations were "obviously false" as the plane was on the ground refuelling when the incident was said to have taken place, the Daily Mail reports.

In pictures: Oprah's roses

A spokesman for Winfrey and her Chicago-based production company Harpo refused to comment.

The billionaire chat-show host uses her luxury liner to fly between properties, and engagements, in California and Chicago.

"It's great to have a private jet," Winfrey said of her luxury travel earlier this year. "Anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn't great is lying to you."

Your say: Was Oprah right to fire the two staff? If you could afford it, would you buy a private jet? What do you think of Oprah? Tell us below...

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User comments
Dom learn to spell and write correctly.......I hope you are a kid still in school.
to be honest, i did think oprah was down to earth, but i really think the billions might have gone to head, suggesting that to own a private jet is to die for, is just capitalism gone rotten.
Sounds suss to me, polygraph supports pilot and flight attendant, and we all know that Oprah would do just about anything for Gayle, that appears to include supporting Gayle's daughter in a "gift" job. Is it really a long bow to draw to say that she would also fire people on Gayles' say-so? Oprah has been scammed before, her judgment is not always perfect (eg her love of "the secret") So I think that she should avoid any further unpleasantness for these two people and pay up graciously... and fire Gayles' daugter, if she is qualified for what she does a reference will be enough for her to get work with a respectable airline firm, she can make her own way rather than milking her mothers' friends' success for her own gain!
Oprah is always preaching to her audience about how they can make a difference to the world, shedding tears etc. Here she is bragging about having a private jet, which costs a king's ransom to own and run and comes with one hell of a carbon footprint. What a role model.
sure oprah sheds alot of light on peoples circumstances but i think she could do more by giving away her own money. I seriously don't think Oprah is a happy person either. Money doesn't buy u happiness and it just isolates you from normal everyday people. The only friend she probably has is that woman in the photo who probably lives off the money oprah gives her. As to the sex thingy, i think maybe they should be reinstated or given the money owed to them. I'd go with the lie detector and say they are innocent of wrongdoing.
I know Oprah has done lots for ppl, but she is also a snob.If I had as much money as her I would not behave like I was above everybody else who doesnt have money. It may be good to have a private jet in certain circumstances, but use it for good things, Give the staff the benefit of the doubt, unless it can be proven dont take words of another as truth..
Good I hope Oprah gets sued, what's funny is that she'll never get a man. Why? She's too fat and most likely waaaay to overprotective of her money.
oprah...... has made her billions on the backs of the not so well off as herself.. her jet would burn more fuel and cause as much pollution as peak hour in a city.. us lesser folk are being had by these self righteous money making 2 faced types..the weird thing is it works for them.. oprah has many homes..how much energy does it cost to run them.. hypocrites abound and get rich. money cant keep the weight off!!!!!!!!
Well, if they didn't do it, as people have pointed out, either she pays the suit or she reinstates them and fires the person who slandered them.But what I really got giggling about are the names of the people involved. Can the disgraced pilot really be named Pansing? And can the other attendant really have the surname Bumpus? Truth is often stranger than fiction. Hahaha.
If the couple did have sex in an inappropriate situation then Opray was entitled to fire them. If they were not guilty then they are better off not to be in her employment as the allegations have cast aspersions on their reputation and Oprah will not know if she can trust them again or not. If the allegations made were trumped up out of spite then the karma will return to that person anyway. Opray, like her or not, has done much to help disadvantaged people, bring social issues to the fore, taken on controversial subjects, and supported women and people of different colours, creeds and races. I do not revere her but I do respect her and she is doing what God destined her to do.

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