Oprah Winfrey, 59, was announced by Forbes as the most powerful celebrity in the world last month. But even the billionaire television personality is not immune to racial prejudice.

Oprah visited an upscale handbag shop in Switzerland when she went there for Tina Turner’s wedding.

Oprah tells www.etonline.com:

“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.”

“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.”

Photo credit: www.oprah.com

What Oprah wanted to look at was a $38,000 Tom Ford crocodile bag. After the incident, Oprah decided to leave the store gracefully instead.

The luxury shop Oprah was allegedly referring to, Trois Pommes, has issued an apology for the “misunderstanding”.  Trudie Gotz told BBC that no racism was intended:

“My salesperson wanted to give her the handbag in her hand. But she didn’t want to take the bag,” claimed Gotz.

She said her assistant had worked in the Trois Pommes store “for a few years and takes care of the most spoilt customers from all over the world”, adding, “she is really a correct sales person”.

Switzerland Tourism also apologized over their twitter account saying that the sales person had behaved inappropriately.

Photo credit: www.nydailynews.com