ZURICH (Reuters) - The owner of a luxury goods shop in Zurich has denied that racism was involved when Oprah Winfrey was discouraged from buying a 35,000 Swiss franc ($38,100) handbag.
The U.S. talk show host, recently named the world's most powerful celebrity, was in Switzerland for the wedding of singer Tina Turner when the incident occurred last month.
The broadcaster said in two U.S. interviews that a sales assistant had refused to show her the crocodile handbag, saying it was "too expensive" and steering her towards other, cheaper ones.
Luxury shop Trois Pommes denied discriminating against Winfrey, an African-American, who asked to look at a "Jennifer" purse, designed by Tom Ford and named for actress Jennifer Aniston. The owner put the incident down to a language barrier.
"This is an absolute classic misunderstanding," shop owner Trudie Goetz told Reuters on Friday.
"This has nothing to do with racism, I am here for everyone and the customer is king."
