She may be a household name, but even one of Forbes' 100 most powerful celebrities isn't immune to racism, it seems. While shopping in Switzerland, the mega rich and successful US talk show host was apparently snubbed while handbag shopping.
According to an article in the Independent, the 59 year old was in Zurich attending none other than Tina Turner's wedding. When she entered an upmarket store, she was told by a shop assistant that the bags on display were “too expensive” for her.
By all accounts she left the store without a fuss, but later expressed her dismay about the incident on Entertainment Tonight:
"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.”
When Winfrey politely asked once more to see the bag, the assistant added, "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."
Which is laughable, really, considering Winfrey is a billionaire... Yet the fact of the matter is, her wealth is irrelevant. Even if she wasn't a famous wealthy person, she should have been treated with respect.
Kudos to Oprah for going out "without her eyelashes on" as well as the fact that she went public with her story.
No one is immune, but was the incident racist or simply elitist? We all know that fancy shop keepers look down on you if you are not dressed the part... No doubt race was a factor in the skirmish, though I'll bet that unchecked snobbery also played a part, too.
And no doubt that little shop is now tripping all over itself in an ingratiating display of butt-kissing, shipping Oprah ten of the bags she was eyeing up.
Of course the incident has opened the can of worms for Switzerland, which hosts a huge number of asylum-seekers, and isn't exactly thrilled about it.
What's your take on the story—racist or elitist or both? Ever been snubbed by a shop assistant? See what happened when our own Erica Ehm was in the same room as Oprah the great.
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