Oprah

[Butterbun]

a billionaire, went into a store in Zurich and asked the shop assistant to show her a handbag worth £24.000.00. Shop assistant refused telling her that she couldn't afford it.

[Baby_Sham]

Ahh, I see.

It's like Pretty Woman all over again...

[naomi24]

Exactly.

[GetOverIt]

Doesn't a till go Ker -ching ........not cher-ching?

[cazzz1975]

probably, thank you for the correction.. ;)

[Baby_Sham]

Not if that millionaire happens to be Cher!

[GetOverIt]

I suppose the till could have a French accent?

[ludwig]

// I'm not sure I'd recognise Oprah Winfrey in her 'civves' //

She looks pretty scruffy when she's not 'scrubbed up'. When I say scruffy, I actually mean normal, ie not like posh spice who's always dolled up to the nines in designer gear.

I can juuuust about see how such a misunderstanding might occur. It shouldn't happen though.

[Svejk]

By oprahs own account the assistant said 'its too expensive'
Which is very different to 'you can't afford it' which oprah added as her take on it.
Expect the assistant had the sack for losing a £23,950 profit.

[Baby_Sham]

Something costing *that* much, something which is kept behind a screen, has to be protected to some degree. I'm sure Oprah could have probably handled the situation better and explained herself to the shop assistant, who clearly didn't have a clue who she was.

[weecalf]

Is it not the old ...do you know who line.....raising its head again

[Svejk]

My mate went in a jewellers and said 'Could I have a look at your Rolex watches?'
Assistant 'Don't you mean Timex, dear'

[ludwig]

// Is it not the old ...do you know who line.....raising its head again //

Perhaps the opposite. She may well have got a fawning apology if she'd chosen to play that card, but she probably decided not to on the principle that it shouldn't matter.

[naomi24]

Svejk, when I listened to her on television, she said she was told she couldn’t afford it.

// When Winfrey insisted she did want to see the bag the shop assistant allegedly 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."//

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/oprah-winfrey-victim-of-racism-in-switzerland-billionaire-told-she-cant-afford-expensive-handbag-8753660.html

[Baby_Sham]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23633768

Word from the owner is it was a misunderstanding and that her sales assistant's English isn't very good.
To be fair, a shop that sells bags of that value must deal with very wealthy customers on a daily basis, so I doubt very much it had anything to do with the assistant 'judging' her.
My theory is that Oprah is just pissed that she wasn't recognised!

[emmie]

how did no one recognise her, i know that not everyone will, but she is very well known.
this is a scene straight out of Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts, who goes to Rodeo drive to purchase a dress and the snotty assistants send her packing.
Is Oprah going to sue i wonder...

[emmie]

strange story, does seem as though the assistant wasn't really on the ball.. one could go into a store wearing rags, yet have billions, who is to say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23633768

[craft1948]

I wouldn't know what Oprah looks like. If anyone had asked me to show them the handbag I'd have just checked to see if they were wearing running shoes.............

[emmie]

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2007/database/oprah/oprah300.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.people.com/people/oprah_winfrey/&h=259&;w=194&sz=1&tbnid=Lz4G3StUzn3NyM:&tbnh=186&tbnw=139&zoom=1&usg=__Zm6TXz-C68nYtxisyoN6GaRu2Ss=&docid=J-prVaKdqJtHuM&itg=1&sa=X&ei=UAgFUum-Oa6r0AXl24CgDQ&ved=0CJABEPwdMA0

[craft1948]

Come on Emmie...............does she always wear that much slap?

[Svejk]

I heard it on the radio, Naomi.
My reading was when she didn't get the gasps of astonishment or laughter she expected the original 'its too expensive' version to elicit. She went on to spell it out( guild the lily,if you like) for the American audience.