Oprah Winfrey is a household name. Everyone from the mainland US to third-world countries knows who she is unless you’ve been living under a rock or don’t have a cable subscription.
But it seems there is still a handful of people who don’t recognize the media mogul.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Oprah opened up about her thoughts and experiences with racism, citing an event in Zurich where she felt unfairly judged for her skin color.
Apparently, a clueless sales lady in a high-end retail store Trois Pommes refused service to Ms. O, who was asking to see a pricey-looking bag from American designer Tom Ford.
The clerk refused, saying the purse she wanted was “too expensive” for her. The luxury shop claims a language barrier caused the misunderstanding and has apologized to Oprah.
“I was in Zurich the other day at a store whose name I will not mention. I didn’t have my eyelashes on, but I was in full Oprah Winfrey gear. I had my little Donna Karan skirt and sandals, but obviously, The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Zurich,” Oprah told Entertainment Tonight.
“I go into a store and say to the woman, ‘Excuse me, may I see that bag over your head?’ and she says to me ‘No, it’s too expensive.'”
Oprah Winfrey with long-time partner Stedman Graham at the premiere of Lee Daniels’ The Butler in New York on August 5, 2013 (Credit: WENN / Joel Ginsburg)
The bag in question was an exotic croc-skin version of the Tom Ford “Jennifer” bag, which retails at about $38,000.
Although Oprah didn’t mention the name of the store, the press later identified it as Trois Pommes, a very posh boutique on Zurich’s exclusive Bahnhofstrasse.
The owner of the said shop, along with the whole tourism officials of Zurich, have already expressed apologies to Oprah, whose net worth is $2.9 billion, by the way. Ha! Take that, sassy sales clerk!
Trois Pommes in Zurich reportedly refused to show Oprah Winfrey a $38,000 crocodile skin handbag by Tom Ford (Credit: Brian To / WENN)
“Mrs. Oprah said she just wanted to look at the bag, she didn’t want it taken down, and because my sales assistant felt a little embarrassed about the price, she quickly said that she also had the model in other materials such as ostrich and suede, which weren’t so expensive,” explained Trudie Goetz, the manager of high-end retail store Trois Pommes.
Now, for all of us mere mortals who really can’t afford outrageously priced purses, consider the following faux croc-skin beauties that you can buy for $10 at ShoeDazzle:
Spokane Handbag in Green, $10
Bistra Handbag in Black, $10
Avesta Handbag in Brown/Blue, $49.95
What do you think of this hot news? Was the sales clerk being racist? Or is it just another case of snobby, bad customer service?