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Oprah Winfrey 'victim of racism' in Swiss shop

Oprah Winfrey has said she recently became a victim of racism when a shop assistant in Switzerlan...
Newstalk
Newstalk

08.57 9 Aug 2013


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Oprah Winfrey 'victim...

Oprah Winfrey 'victim of racism' in Swiss shop

Newstalk
Newstalk

08.57 9 Aug 2013


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Oprah Winfrey has said she recently became a victim of racism when a shop assistant in Switzerland refused to show her a handbag saying it would be "too expensive" for her.

The US chat show host, who is one of the richest women in the world, was in Zurich for Tina Turner’s wedding when she decided to go shopping alone.

Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight: "I was in Zurich the other day, in a store whose name I will not mention. 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.

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"I go into a store and I say to the woman, 'Excuse me, may I see the bag right above your head?' and she says to me, 'No. It's too expensive.'"

When Winfrey insisted again, the woman replied: "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."

The assistant then started to show the media owner smaller bags before she asked for a third time and was refused again.

"She said, 'Oh I don’t want to hurt your feelings' and I said, 'Ok thank you so much you’re probably right I can’t afford it.'" said the 59-year-old.

Winfrey, who is the world's only African-American billionaire, then walked out of the shop calmly.

She said: "I could've had the whole blow-up thing and thrown down the black card but why do that but that clearly is you know … it (racism) still exists, of course it does."

The revelation came after she was asked whether anyone had ever called her the "n word" on US television show.

She said no one in their right mind would call her that to her face, adding that racism showed itself in other ways.

"It shows up for me this way. Sometimes I’m in a boardroom or I’m in situations where I’m the only woman, I’m the only African American person within a 100 mile radius and I can see in the energy of the people there, they don’t sense that I should be holding one of those seats.

"I can sense that. But I can never tell is it racism is it sexism because often it’s both. I mean the sexism thing is huge. The higher the ladder you climb it gets huge, because men are used to running things."

Oprah has just been awarded America's highest civilian honour - the Presidential Medal of Freedom - which she will receive from President Barack Obama at the White House later in the year.

 


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