In a swizz over costly handbag
THE owner of a luxury shop in Zurich has denied that racism was involved when US talkshow host Oprah Winfrey was discouraged from buying a crocodile handbag priced at 35 000 Swiss francs (about R340 000).
Winfrey, recently named by Forbes as the world’s most powerful celebrity, was in Zurich for the wedding of singer Tina Turner last month when the incident occurred.
She said in two US interviews that a sales assistant refused to show her the designer handbag, saying it was “too expensive” for the African-American celebrity and steered her towards other, cheaper bags.
Luxury shop Trois Pommes denied discriminating against Winfrey, who asked to look at a “Jennifer” handbag, named after actress Jennifer Aniston.
Shopkeeper Trudie Goetz put the incident down to a language barrier. “This is an absolute classic misunderstanding,” she said on Friday.
The sales assistant wanted to show Winfrey that the handbag was also available in other materials, which may have given the TV host the impression that the shop didn’t want to sell her the bag, Goetz said. “Of course that’s not the case. Who wouldn’t want to sell a purse for 35 000 francs?”
Winfrey, who runs her own TV network, earned $77-million from June 2012 to this June, cementing top spot on the Forbes list last month, the fifth time she has headed the annual ranking of 100 celebrities.
The Swiss tourism association said it regretted the incident and was “never happy when our guests’ feelings are hurt”.—