When Oprah said in an interview this week that she was discriminated against while shopping at a high end boutique in Switzerland, the story took off like wildfire. Now, the saleslady in question is speaking out and is calling Oprah a liar. But....did she actually just prove Oprah's point with her "explanation"? Check it inside....
While billionaire Oprah Winfrey was shopping it up around Switzerland while she was in the country for her good friend Tina Turner's wedding, she stopped at a boutique called Trois Pomme in Zurich.
Oprah told "ET" recently that she felt the saleslady was racist, all because when she asked the shopgirl if she could see the $35,000 bag behind her, Ms. Goetz the saleslady SUPPOSEDLY said, "You don't want to see this bag. It is too expensive. You cannot afford it.'
This wasn't the first racist encounter with a sales assistant--remember her Hermes run in years ago? Well now, the Swiss sales assistant is speaking out, saying Oprah lied on her. And she is so not racist.
Goetz (pictured above in the store just days ago) told a local newspaper, as retold by Daily Mail, her side of the story:
‘I wasn’t sure what I should present to her when she came in on the afternoon of Saturday July 20 so I showed her some bags from the Jennifer Aniston collection,’ said the saleslady.
‘I explained to her the bags came in different sizes and materials, like I always do,” she continued.
Then she goes on to discuss the confusion over the more expensive handbag.
‘She looked at a frame behind me. Far above there was the 35,000 Swiss franc crocodile leather bag,” the saleslady explained.
“I simply told her that it was like the one I held in my hand, only much more expensive, and that I could show her similar bags.
‘It is absolutely not true that I declined to show her the bag on racist grounds. I even asked her if she wanted to look at the bag.”
We hear what she's saying. But what she (and many racist people) don't realize, is that she subconsciously made a statement based on the race of the person she was dealing with.
If a customer asks to see a $35,000 bag, any sales assistant who is about their hustle would RUN to go get that bag and that commission. While Ms. Goetz has convinced herself she was just trying to "help Oprah out" because the cheaper bag looked similar, that wasn't her call to make. And had it been someone else asking who she assumed could afford it, she likely wouldn't have made that same call that cut her own self out of a commission.
Goetz continued:
'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.
'I don't know why she is making these accusations. She is so powerful and I am just a shop girl.
'I didn't hurt anyone. I don't know why someone as great as her must cannibalize me on TV.
'If it had all taken place as she claimed, why has she not complained the next day at the wedding of Tina Turner with Trudie Goetz, my boss? She was there also at the Turner wedding as a guest. I don't understand it.
'I spoke to Oprah Winfrey in English. My English is okay but not excellent, unfortunately.
'I didn't know who she was when she came into the store. That wouldn't have made any difference if I had.
Hmmm. Sounds like a typical case of "you don't even know what racist means".
Meanwhile, Oprah addressed the situation on last night's red carpet Hollywood premiere of Lee Daniels' The Butler. And she regrets ever stirring up the huge bruhaha it has. She simply was recalling a time where discrimination has occurred because she was in a certain type of place.
“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.
I was just referencing it as an example of being in a place where people don’t expect that you would be able to be there.”
There you have it...
Photos: Getty/Fame