Oprah Winfrey Accuses Trois Pommes Clerk of Discrimination, Brand Rep Denies It

[idunno]

That's so rude to suggest to anyone that they wouldn't be able to afford an expensive item in a shop.

I agree. And this type of up-scale store are rarely so busy, that they don't have time to service each customer regardless wether the buy something or not.
The same thing happened to her in 2005 in an Hermes store in Paris.

[rockchick]

"I could have had the big blowup thing and thrown down the black card and all that stuff," Winfrey said, "but why do that?"

Why not do that? Why wait and then whine in interviews? Be direct and deal with it right then and there or shut the hell up.

Exactly. Oprah is convinced she's the second coming. I can't stand her, and actually find this to be very amusing.

[idunno]

Deleted.

[SillyME54]

Ugh, Oprah is so fucking annoying. The store clerk was obviously in the wrong no matter how they try to spin it, but the way Oprah describes her experience is eye-roll inducing and makes me despise her even more.

[Trixie]

Ugh, fucking horrendous. Seriously horrendous. What does anyone care what someone else is shopping for?

We have a couple of high end designer items in our DSW - Gucci, Cole Haan. We don't carry a lot of the higher end names in our store - we're not in THAT kind of neighborhood where we get people with the money to buy it. Every once in a while, someone will ask to see a pair of the shoes (we keep the stuff behind the register area). Who am I to judge whether or not they can afford it? I will be honest about the pricing, but bigger prices don't faze some people in the least and I have no idea who those people are just by looking at them.

I'm failing to see the misunderstanding. The saleswoman understood that Oprah wanted to look at the bag and then refused to show it to her and then tried to steer her elsewhere. What's to misunderstand? Oh, no, it's not because you're black, but because you look poor? Equally as tacky and offensive. You have no idea how much money someone really has in the bank and it's not like Oprah was trying to take it out for a test run outside the store before purchase.

And fuck these people for making me even sorta defend The Oprah.

Yep, anyone who works in retail, on commission, should know you can't judge a book by its cover so to speak, especially nowadays when people don't exactly dress to the nines to go shopping. I hate to defend Queen Oprah too, but it really does sound like profiling to me. What harm would there be in letting a customer see the bag? Is a credit check required before you can touch the expensive merchandise? Sounds to me like the salesperson didn't want to take it off the shelf, because she thought Oprah was gonna run out of the store with it or something.

[olivia]

So Oprah is still one of The People, I guess.

[BBDSP]

I'd be pissed too if I were her.

[greysfang]

Well, an entire country apologizing for one stupid shopgirl is a bit excessive.

8/9/2013 7:50 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

OPRAH WINFREY
GETS SWISS APOLOGY
After Racist Incident at Purse Store

BREAKING NEWS

The entire country of Switzerland is begging for Oprah Winfrey's forgiveness ... after a racist shop assistant in Zurich refused to show her a handbag because it was "too expensive" for O.

The incident occurred last month, when Oprah was in Zurich to attend Tina Turner's wedding ... and walked into the upscale Trois Pomme boutique where she noticed a $40,000 handbag.

When Oprah asked to see it, the shop assistant refused -- insisting it was out of O's price range. RACIST!!!!

Oprah described the exchange to "Entertainment Something":

"One more time, I tried. I said, 'But I really do just want to see that one,' and the shopkeeper said, 'Oh, I don't want to hurt your feelings,' and I said, 'Okay, thank you so much. You're probably right, I can't afford it.' And I walked out of the store."

Now, Switzerland's national tourism board has issued an apology on behalf of the country -- saying, "We are very sorry for what happened to her."

The board also begged for Oprah's forgiveness on Twitter ... saying the shop assistant "acted terribly wrong."

FYI -- Oprah reportedly made $77 million dollars last year ... so, suck on that racist shop assistant.




Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2bVZW0lBC
Visit Fishwrapper: http://www.fishwrapper.com

[Brookie]

The National Tourism Board issued an apology? Good fucking grief.

[maryk]

Didn't this happen to her at Hermes years ago too?
That this happened to her twice is really odd, I'm starting to think this is how she gets free bags, which is weird because why would she need them free? Or is it for free press?

edited I'm not crazy she was denied entry to Hermes in 05
Oprah and the View From Outside Hermes' Paris Door

[MmeVertigina]

This is what I imagine she wanted to say:

"I could have had the big blowup thing and thrown down the black card and all that stuff," Winfrey said, "but why do that when I can have my good friend Barack have the entire country of Switzerland designated an unlawful combatant?"

I don't understand sales clerks like that, you cannot always tell how much someone is willing to spend by looking at what they are wearing, and *of course* not by their ethnicity or coloring, geesh.

[twitchy2.0]

Cause she didn't want to give the clerk commission, but wanted to reserve the right to bitch. And I would have too.

Not me. I'd have had my snit right then and there. Get the manager and make sure the employee knows there's no way in hell that's acceptable

[Beeyotch]

Yeah true, but minds that narrow, I'm gonna guess that a lost commission made a bigger impact. I like the global scale of the humiliation too.

[stella blue]

This shit happens all the time. I walked into a Dress Barn in Virginia with a friend of mine and it was the petite store. The sales clerk jumped up and sad "the plus sizes are next door". Um, petite means 5'4" and under you dumb bitch, and Kendra is not even that heavy, maybe a 12/14 petite. I was so fucking offended. So what if someone isn't a white girl who is a size 3, that doesn't mean we can't walk in the door without being accosted. What if we were looking for a gift for someone? I hate that profiling bullshit.

Um, the store is called Dress Barn. WTF does the clerk even have to be snotty about?

[Fly_On_TheWall]

Way to inflate her ego even more. I'm sure the clerk will or has lost her job.