Swiss store denies Winfrey racism claim
Print Edition
A SWISS luxury boutique denied any wrongdoing yesterday, after US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey claimed she had been the subject of racism when a shop assistant allegedly refused to show her an expensive handbag.
Winfrey, one of the richest women in the world, said she had been in Zurich for US singer Tina Turner’s wedding in July and spotted a crocodile handbag.
“I’m in a store, a name-brand store. I’m by myself, absolutely nobody else with me. And I say to the woman, ‘I would like to see that bag on the shelf,’” Winfrey told fellow US talk show host Larry King on Internet channel ora.tv.
“And she says: ‘No, that one’s too expensive. I’ll show you this one,’” said Winfrey.
Trudie Goetz, head of the Swiss luxury chain Trois Pommes, denied her saleswoman had ever sought to stop Winfrey buying the bag. “Everyone wants to sell a crocodile bag,” Goetz said.
“It’s a misunderstanding,” she said, adding that the saleswoman put the customer first and tried to be “too kind.”
“She explained how beautiful the bag was, then she said: ‘Honestly this bag costs 35,000 Swiss francs, but I can show you other versions in ostrich, in pure leather and in velour,’” Goetz said.
That’s US$38,000 — small change for Winfrey, whose wealth is estimated at US$2.8 billion by Forbes magazine.
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