Oprah's Mom Settles Financial Dispute With Wisconsin Department Store

by Katie Hintz-Zambrano (Subscribe to Katie Hintz-Zambrano's posts), Posted Nov 24th 2009 at 11:36PM

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Did Oprah bail her mom out? Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, AP

While Oprah is making worldwide headlines after announcing that she's ending her namesake show in 2011, the TV host's mom is making some headlines of her own.

Winfrey's mother, Vernita Lee, who resides in Milwaukee, WI, is finally settling a financial dispute after she was sued in 2008 for not paying a $155,547 bill she racked up at local high-end department store Valentina, the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reports.

Lee's lawyer argued that the store should have known better than to give Lee credit, given that she still had an outstanding balance on an earlier bill. However, it looks like Lee will indeed pony up a portion of the cash to the retailer, according to one of Valentina's co-owners who spoke to the Journal Sentinel.

"We're happy with what transpired," co-owner Tom Chirchirillo told the paper. "We can go on with our lives; they can go on with theirs."

This bad credit saga began in July 2008, when, as The Boston Globe reported, Valentina filed suit against Lee for failing to make the store's minimum monthly payments of $2,000 in order to pay off her six-figure debt. The store also said that Lee denied owing any money.

With Oprah's billionaire status, we also weren't surprised to learn that TMZ is reporting that Lee might have been bailed out by her famous daughter.

Luckily, it won't be dragging on much longer. On December 7th, the Journal Sentinel reports, a judge will finalize the settlement.

Filed under: Celebrity, News
Tags: Department Stores, fashion lawsuit, Lawsuits, oprah, Oprahs Mom, valentina

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mesaman 11-25-2009 @ 3:00PM

Hey Ms Piggy; take out a reverse mortgage on your apartment and pay "yo momma's" extravagance off. If I read that you are blaming the store for extending credit and "yo momma" is taking advantage of it, I would conclude that you are not a very good citizen, in fact I would say you are a cad and a supercilious person. Rich people suck!!

hello 11-25-2009 @ 3:20PM

Oprah Winfrey's birth mother, Vernita Lee, didn't raise her or contribute to who she is today this woman give Oprah away because she was in her opinion to dark skinned. Oprah Winfrery, was raised by her father and step mother, Oprah have give her real parent anything they want, and paid tribute to her step mother for the woman she is today. Oprah, don't owe this woman anything, the shop is stupid for giving this woman credit in the first place.

Jodee 11-25-2009 @ 3:30PM

There is no reason Oprah should pay for anyone's bad behavior. The only exception would be a minor child.

vjm1017 11-25-2009 @ 3:48PM

Oprah shouldn't have to pay her mother's debts. Her mother is an adult who knew her limit and should live within her means. It's like having an adult child who does the same thing. If someone gets themselves in that situation they should face the consequences. Obviously I don't know the woman, but I'm thinking she probably did that thinking her daughter would bail her out. Not to mention no one knows if Oprah has bailed her mother out before. Perhaps she has time and time again and finally put her foot down. She can't enable her mother's irresponsible actions.

N.Campbell 11-25-2009 @ 3:53PM

SHE MUST HAVE HER REASONS BUT I AM AMAZED AND MAYBE APALLED THAT QUEEN OPRAH ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN LET ALONE DRAG ON FOR A FEW YEARS. DOES MS. LOVE AND FORGIVNESS STILL WANT TO PUNISH HER MOTHER? NO MATTER WHAT WE ONLY GET ONE MOMMA.

whutz good amber 11-25-2009 @ 4:36PM

Oprah has a mother?

mesaman 11-25-2009 @ 4:53PM

Reading the vapid comments from the PMS crowd presents a significant conclusion; her past relationship with her mother, the apologies, the finer points of the law of responsibility, totally ignores the basic premise of integrity and civility of this billionaire. If Ms Piggy is not responsible for her mother's debt, where was she when she continued to run the bill up? No relationship between mother and child for whatever reasons? Then loose your venom on the media for making the connection. Certainly the store should not have to compensate the free-loading momma. She is a shameful creature. La "O" should distance the relationship is far as possible. But it is not fodder for the internet.

WILLIAM BENJAMIN 11-25-2009 @ 5:10PM

Why are your comments so vial and hateful...."Ms. Piggy"....what is that? Oprah has done more to enhance, improve, educate, house, feed, clothe and inspire the entire world than your sorry ass could imagine. All that Oprah is, is good. You need to crawl back under rock or piece of sh*t that you came out from under!

Hugh 11-25-2009 @ 5:51PM

William Benjamin - You, sir, are an idiot. The word is vile, not vial, you moron. Also, you call someone else's comments vile, then tell them to crawl back under a piece of sh*t? Oprah is a fat black cow who doesn't even know you exist and couldn't care less about you even if she did.

Cherrio 11-25-2009 @ 5:12PM

Years ago I watched a movie about Oprah as a young girl. Her mother, who was a prostitute, was rarely home....and when she was, she brought men home with her. Most tried to mess with Oprah as well..which her mother resented. Oprah cleaned, cooked, and went to school. She spent most of her time reading books... they helped block out the horrible environment she lived in...

Fortunately..she went to live with her father & stepmother ......
She is a survivor....an amazing woman.

Marsha 11-25-2009 @ 5:05PM

A few years ago Oprah's mother was in her studio audience and she introduced her as her birth mother. It was obvious that Oprah harbored no true love for her.

perhapstuesday 11-25-2009 @ 6:46PM

This comment is for Hugh, who wrote earlier that: 'Oprah is a fat black cow...' Lol, not the brightest comment but by far the trashiest, to date. That statement makes you irrelevant.

As for everyone else: I absolutely love Oprah and think she is an American icon.

deltahak 11-25-2009 @ 6:55PM

I think it is safe to assume the store gave her credit because she said she was Oprah Winfrey's mom. The store probably counted on Oprah paying her mother's bills just because she is who she is. I for one do not blame Oprah for not paying this. If she had, I can see the mother going out to the nearest dealership to get an Escalade just by saying she is Oprah's mom. When would that type of behavior end? It didn't go that far; it ended with this store because Op wasn't havin' it!!!

sbhappe34 11-25-2009 @ 6:52PM

William would you be a little bit racist. Are you talking about the school she set up in Africa. She didn't want to have one in America because our children wouldn't appreciate it. How many rape cases were reported by boys and girls. The grades are not doing to good. Stealing and whatever

MP 11-25-2009 @ 9:58PM

Yes, Oprah is great.
Part 1: Remember when Oprah/the show (Harpo Productions) gave away a new Pontiac G6 car valued at $28,500.00 to 276 people in the audience. Each of the people in the audience were selected as moms in need of a car. Oprah, the show, paid zero for the cars, Pontiac gave them to her show for the exposure/advertising of the new car and the good will press of the donation. The signed contract Pontiac had with Oprah/the show was that she must state many times (I forget the #) during the show that the cars were donated by Pontiac a division of GM. It was not mentioned until the end of the show, nice way to treat sponsors and take credit for what you did not do.
Part 2: What happens when you receive/win/are given a gift of a new car (or other stuff)? Well, all the moms who received the new Pontiac were informed by the IRS that they needed to pay income tax on the value of the car of around $7,000.00, (just like all the people who win anything on the Price is Right). Most of the moms were going to have to sell the car to pay the tax. This problem got back to Oprah/the show, the response, not our problem! A Harpo (the show) spokeswomen said winners had 3 choices. They could keep the car and pay the tax; Sell the car and pay the tax or forfeit the car, isn't that the nicest thing to say to the poor moms. Pontiac came to the rescue and paid the $7000.00 income tax on the cars so the people could keep them. Pontiac also paid the sales tax, licence & registration fees for the cars.
Bottom line, Oprah's biggest ever gift to guests, wasn't done by her or the show, and she did not care if the mom's had to sell the cars. There were a few news reports on this, but most did not want to make Oprah look as being uncaring, or, no way will I give any of my money to them.
Think I am making this up, just Google "Oprah Pontiac" and read any of the 570,000 articles on the web.

krsted 11-25-2009 @ 7:03PM

I want to try an experiment. What if all hateful comments were ignored by the rest of us, and only relevant, intelligent and civil comments were responded to? Of course, there's always that gray area about which comments are relevant, but if there are racist, political party blaming, name-calling comments, I think they can be considered hateful. I'm baffled by the haters who hide behind their anonymity, and starting to think they're just looking for a reaction to get attention.

As for Oprah's mother, I'm glad she settled her suit, but I've hardly ever heard Oprah refer to her birth mother and always got the impression they weren't very close. Oprah lights up when she talks about her dad. Oprah's done so much for the world through her Angel Network, I don't see how anyone could be so hateful towards her.

mesaman 11-25-2009 @ 7:56PM

Hugh; Thank you, you seem to connect with my opinion and I appreciate your "relevancy". I will not respond to a black racist's comments and as for the PMS crowd, this is my opinion of her, I stand behind it and I believe it. Now would those who disagree please go "BAA" once in a while so she will know you still care, and keep th $$ rolling into her bank account, she has another heart-rendering program in the works. One that will satisfy your glibness and make her as rich as William Gates.

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