Oprah Talks To Swiss Newspaper About Alleged Racist Incident
Oprah has offered more details about her alleged racial incident that took place in Switzerland.
The media mogul granted an interview to Switzerland's Blick newspaper about her claims that she was racially discriminated against in July. She was in the country for singer Tina Turner's wedding. Oprah explained to Entertainment Tonight that a store clerk refused to show her an expensive bag because she believed the talk show host could not afford it.
The clerk denied the allegations of racism and a Blick reported asked Oprah if she was being too sensitive in the new interview which was published. Oprah denied that she embellished her claim.
"I don't know any black man who hasn't been stopped or followed by the police at some point because of his skin color, but for women, it's different," she said.
Oprah also said that her experience with the store was not an indictment against Switzerland. She did not want her grievance to be perceived as a slight against Switzerland as a whole.
"What I experienced in Switzerland has only happened to me once before in life. I didn't want to attack Switzerland. It was an isolated incident. The kind of incident that people with black or brown skin have to experience every day," she said.
However, Oprah did allow that the store clerk may not have been aware of how her actions were offensive to her.
"Maybe she actually just didn't want to reach for the bag because it was up too high," she said. "Who knows? Either way, I had a great time in Switzerland."