Is Oprah Lying About the Racism Incident in Zurich to Promote her Upcoming Movie – Lee Daniels’ The Butler?
The sales clerk who was accused of racial profiling by Oprah Winfrey claims that the comments were "not true." Oprah, who is currently promoting the movie Lee Daniels' The Butler, had said that she was a victim of racial profiling in Zurich. The sales woman who did not wish to be identified has been feeling the heat from the media ever since the news broke out. In an effort to fight back, the woman gave her side of the story to a Swiss Newspaper, reported Daily Mail.
The woman said she was just a "shop girl" whereas Oprah was so "powerful." She said she felt "powerless" and in the middle of a "cyclone" after the media "nightmare."
The story that created this storm started in an interview Oprah gave to Larry King. She had said that when she was in Switzerland for Tina Turner's wedding she was shopping for a bag in a Zurich store, the sales clerk in the shop refused to show her a bag which was worth $ 38,000 presuming she would not be able to afford it since she was black. Oprah considered this to be a direct confrontation with racism.
The store manager had dubbed the incident as a misunderstanding.
"This is not true. This is absurd. I would never say something like that to a customer. Really, never. Good manners and politeness are the Alpha and the Omega in this business," the woman told the Swiss Newspaper. She felt "cannibalized" by Oprah and says she doesn't understand why someone so great as Oprah would do something like this
She questioned why Oprah had not taken up the matter with her boss if she considered the incident as racist. Her boss was also an invitee at Tina Turner's wedding.
She however wishes to apologies to Oprah and say it was a misunderstanding and hopes that this nightmare ends soon.
Some media analysts have a different take on the whole episode. The incident comes at a time when Oprah is promoting the movie - Lee Daniels' The Butler. The movie is about the African American civil rights movement. This incident of racism, whether imagined or real, is said to help in the promotion of the film because of all the press it gets.