Oprah gets Swiss apology after being told a handbag was ‘too expensive’ for her

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey says she encountered racism while shopping in Switzerland — and the national tourism office agrees.

Oprah Winfrey, seen here in 2012, says racism was behind a Swiss luxury boutique's alleged refusal to let her buy a handbag because it was "too expensive" for her. The country's national tourism board issued an apology on Friday.

GENEVA—Talk show host Oprah Winfrey says she encountered racism while shopping in Switzerland — and the national tourism office agrees.

The media mogul, who is one of the world’s richest women, told the U.S. program “Entertainment Tonight” that a shop assistant in Zurich refused to show her a handbag because it was “too expensive” for her.

Forbes magazine estimates that Winfrey earned $77 million in the year ending in June.

A spokeswoman for the Swiss tourism office, Daniela Baer, told The Associated Press on Friday “we are very sorry for what happened to her.”

The tourism office also posted an apology on Twitter, saying “this person acted terribly wrong.”

Winfrey was in town to attend last month’s wedding of longtime pal Tina Turner, who lives in Switzerland.

美国名嘴欧普拉购物遭店员歧视：太贵你买不起
信源：大公网

美国脱口秀女王欧普拉(OprahWinfrey)声称瑞士一名店员拒绝拿昂贵手提包给她看，暗示遭到种族歧视。事情传开后，瑞士这家豪华精品店老板和瑞士旅游局董事纷纷公开向她道歉，声称整件事是个误会。作为一名黑人，是当今世界上最具影响力的妇女之一，也是全球最富裕的富婆之一。

她7月到苏黎世参加美国歌手蒂娜特纳(TinaTurner)的婚礼，出门逛街时看上一只时尚的鳄鱼皮手提包。奥普拉接受采访时告诉脱口秀主持人赖瑞金(LarryKing)：“我一个人进入了一家名牌精品店，跟那个女店员说，'我想看架上那个包包'。”而这个店员说，“不不不，那个包太贵了，你买不起的。我不想伤害你的感情”。奥普拉非常傻眼，但还是有礼貌的回答：“谢谢，你也许是对的，我可能买不起”。

据报道，这个名牌包售价在3.8万美元左右。奥普拉奥普拉说，我完全可以趾高气扬的把黑金卡掏出来甩她脸上，但何必呢?奥普拉没有直接说这是 “种族歧视”，但她先讲述了她与她的发型师几年前在纽约遭受“种族歧视”后提及此事，暗示非常明显。纽约那家豪华商店曾遭到两名黑人抢劫，当时拒绝让她和发型师进入。

这家瑞士豪华精品连锁店TroisPommes负责人戈茨(TrudieGoetz)否认店员是在“种族歧视”，声称是因为她英语不好导致“一场误会”，她又说，那名女店员总是秉持客户至上的态度，和善待人。

这个要价3万8000美元的包包对奥普拉来说是小菜一碟，根据《财富》(Forbes)杂志，奥普拉身家估计约28亿美元，去年一年收入就高达7700万。瑞士旅游局董事在twitter上向奥普拉道歉，说他们都感到愤怒，这个人的行为错的离谱。