(Image source from: Oprah denied a 'pricey' bag in a boutique)
The US media mogul and one of world's wealthiest women — Oprah Winfrey was denied a handbag at a Swiss boutique as the shop assistant deemed that the million-dollar Tom Ford bag was too pricey for her!
Oprah, who had gone to Zurich recently to attend Tina Turner's wedding, revealed during a chat show about her recent racist encounter while shopping in the posh Trois Pommes boutique, which has now sparked an international uproar.
Talking about it, Oprah revealed, “I was in Zurich the other day, in 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 my little sandals. But obviously The Oprah Winfrey Show is not shown in Zurich.”
"I go into a store and I say to the woman, 'Excuse me, may I see the bag right above your head?' and she says to me, 'No. It's too expensive'. The bag was apparently in the shop window behind a security wall.”
When Winfrey urged again, the woman replied: "No, no you don’t want to see that one, you want to see this one because that one will cost too much. You will not be able to afford that."
The assistant started showing her cheaper handbags, before she requested for a third time and was denied again.
"She said, 'Oh I don’t want to hurt your feelings' and I said, 'Ok thank you so much you’re probably right I can’t afford it'." said the 59-year-old. Winfrey, who is the world's only African-American billionaire, then walked out of the shop calmly.
Trudie Goetz, the owner of the boutique, has apologized for the incident. Ms Goetz, who also happened to be among one of the guests in Tina Turner's wedding said, “This is an absolute classic misunderstanding."
"It was a translation problem. The shop assistant's mother tongue is Italian," Ms Goetz said.
"She was very nervous because it's not everyday somebody comes in to buy such an expensive handbag. She simply offered Oprah examples of cheaper ones and that's when she thought the shop assistant didn't want to sell her the bag. I don't know why so much trouble has been caused.”
Reacting on this, Swiss Tourism office tweeted “We are fuming — this person acted terribly wrong. We are sorry this happened to @oprah!,”
In response, Winfrey tweeted on Friday, “Turns out that store clerk did me a favor. Just found out that bag was $38K!!! She was right I was NOT going to buy."
According to Fobes lost, Oprah earned $77 million between June 2012 and June 2013 alone. The talk show host is due for a President's Medal anytime soon.
AW: Suchorita Dutta
