Associated Press | Oprah Winfrey has settled a defamation lawsuit filed by a headmistress she had accused of performing poorly at her South African girls school, where some students claimed they were abused, lawyers said Tuesday.

The lawsuit by former headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane claimed Winfrey defamed her in remarks made in the wake of the 2007 sex-abuse scandal at the school. The headmistress said she had trouble finding a job after.

A trial had been set to start next week, and Winfrey and several schoolgirls had been expected to testify.

A joint statement released Tuesday by lawyers for both sides said Winfrey and Mzamane met and resolved their differences.

“The two parties met woman to woman without their lawyers and are happy that they could resolve this dispute peacefully to their mutual satisfaction,” said the statement, which didn’t disclose details of the settlement.

A dorm matron at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls has been charged with abusing six students. Winfrey has called the allegations crushing given her own stated history of childhood sexual abuse.

The dorm matron, Tiny Virginia Makopo, has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges.

When news of the scandal broke in 2007, Winfrey said she had “lost confidence” in Mzamane and was “cleaning house from top to bottom.”

Mzamane claimed she didn’t know about any sexual abuse.