Turbulence in the Skies, Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions Sued by Corrine Gehrls, Former Flight Attendant, Over Termination for "Inappropriate Intimate Conduct"

There is drama in the skies above Chicago. Corrine Gehrls, a former flight attendant on Oprah Winfrey's private jet, has filed a defamation lawsuit alleging that Gayle King's daughter, Kirby Bumpus, lied about a fling between her and the pilot, Terry Pansing, that got her fired. Gehrls is suing Harpo, Oprah's company, along with the two flight attendants she claims lied about her. She's asking for damages in excess of $75,000. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Gehrls alleges that Gayle King's daughter, Kirby Bumpus, and the other flight attendant on the jet, Myron Gooch, told Oprah Winfrey directly that Gerhls and the pilot, Terry Pansing, engaged in "inapproriate intimate conduct" during a June 14, 2009 flight.

Gehrls stated in the complaint that no such conduct took place and added that there is no way anyone could have witnessed such conduct since Winfrey and the other passengers taken sleeping pills and slept throughout the flight.

Gerhls also claimed in the lawsuit that Winfrey favored Gooch and turned a blind eye when Gooch and Gayle King shared the jet's double bed on another flight. The complaint also alleges that Winfrey's only issue with Gooch was his food ordering skills and that Winfrey allegedly said "White folks don't know what southern food should taste like." Somehow I find it hard to believe that Oprah Winfrey would make such an ignorant statement, especially since there are many whites from the South.

According to the complaint, Gerhls and Pansing passed a lie detector test and the results are attached to the complaint as exhibits. Well, I would have guessed right off that Gayle King's daughter would have aspired to be more than a flight attendant on a private plane.