The TV host has apologised for naming Switzerland, says it’s ‘all blown up’
Oprah Winfrey surprised viewers everywhere in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight after she revealed that she was the subject of racism whilst shopping in Switzerland last month, but the talkshow host has now apologised, hinting that the media “blew” things out of proportion.
Speaking on the red carpet premiere for her new film, The Butler, Winfrey said according to BBC News: “I think that incident in Switzerland was just an incident in Switzerland.”
“I’m really sorry that it got blown up. I purposefully did not mention the name of the store. I’m sorry that I said it was Switzerland,” she added.
Oprah’s apology comes after Trudie Gotz, the owner of the fancy Trois Pommes boutique, said that the incident between the star and the shop assistant was blown way out of proportion after Winfrey said that the shop assistant said that a handbag would be “too expensive” for her to purchase – despite being one of the richest women in the world.
According to the BBC, Gotz said that Winfrey was “absolutely allowed” to look at the $35,000 (£22,500) bag behind the screen in the shop.
She said: “My salesperson wanted to give her the handbag in her hand. But she didn’t want to take the bag.”
She also added that the sales assistant had worked at the shop “for a few years and takes care of the most spoilt customers from all over the world…she is really a correct sales person.”
However Trudie did not dismiss Winfrey’s account of events: “I didn’t take care of [Winfrey]. I’m sure she felt like this – but my salesgirl promised me she took care of [her] really the best she could. So it must have been a misunderstanding,” she said.
Despite speaking both Italian and English, Trudie admitted the sales assistant’s English “isn’t as good”.
“She tried to show Mrs Oprah the same style in other qualities, because maybe she didn’t understand what she wanted,” she says.
Winfrey was in Zurich to celebrate the nuptials of her close friend Tina Turner.
Oprah said she walked out of the shop “calmly” but said: “That clearly is you know … it (racism) still exists, of course it does.”
