Posted on 09/20/2005 1:49:21 PM PDT by doesnt suffer fools gladly
Hermes president apologizes on-air to Oprah for snub
The tabloid war between Oprah Winfrey and French luxury retailer Hermes International ended in a decisive victory for the US talk show diva Monday when the company's president of US operations apologized on-air.
Winfrey, who was recently named the most powerful celebrity in the US by Forbes magazine and is considered a cultural icon with an immeasurable influence over her millions of viewers, instigated a boycott after she was turned away from a Hermes store in Paris in June.
Tabloids were abuzz with the snub and Oprah's conviction that she was turned away because she was black.
A public apology by Hermes several days later merely fueled the flames because it implied she had tried bully her way into a store that had already closed.
"The store was in the process of being closed -- the store was very active," Oprah told her viewers on the opening show of her 20th season.
"The doors were not locked. My friends and I were standing inside the doorway, and there was much discussion among the staff about whether or not to let me in. That's what was embarrassing. I know the difference between a store being closed and a store being closed to me."
Winfrey, who rose from modest means to build a global media empire that spans books, magazines and movies, often brings her personal life into her broadcasts and had threatened in June to discuss the incident when her show resumed. On Monday, she tried to explain to her viewers why she made such a fuss.
"Shame on anybody for thinking that I was upset for not being able to get in to a closed store and buy a purse. Please. I didn't get to be this old to be that stupid," she said.
"Everybody's who has ever been snubbed because you were not chic enough or thin enough or the right class or the right color or whatever -- I don't know what it was -- you know that it is very humiliating."
However, Oprah lifted the boycott after Robert Chavez, the president and CEO of Hermes USA, told her Hermes has since introduced sensitivity training.
"I'd like to say to you that we're really sorry for all of those unfortunate circumstances that you encountered when you tried to visit our store in Paris," Chavez said.
"We really try to service all of our clients all over the world," he said. "It was an isolated incident. It is not who we are."
Winfrey, who earned 225 million dollars last year (186 million euros) has some 30 million US viewers for her chat show which is rebroadcast in more than 100 countries.
Paris has always been a liberal bastion of the arts and avant-garde. Hermes has existed since the 1830s serving kings, queens and the world's wealthiest. I doubt that Oprah was turned away because of her color. More likely they were simply unimpressed with yet another American celeb.
There she goes, fighting for all the little people who shop at Hermes.
This is a silly non story.
It's somewhat unclear what the facts really are here; I'm inclined to give Oprah (whom I think generally silly) the benefit of the doubt given my experiences with the French.
Am I the only one who thinks that Hermes may actually have discriminated against her? While I don't like Oprah's liberalism, if the story unfolded the way it did, I'm glad she made a stink about it. If people like her (who have a ready bully pulpit) don't do it, you know the real little guy will not be able to.
On the other hand, it's a bit fun to see celebrities taken down a notch. I just saw a movie a few weeks ago on TV called "Papparazzi". It's about how a few Papparazzi caused the death of a movie star's wife and kid and he took revenge by murdering them and how he got away with it! You see, these stars get so annoyed when a certain profession takes advantage of their power (papparazzi), but they don't notice how they abuse their own power, i.e their ability to make movies attacking people (a la Oliver Stone) who can't very well retaliate.
Who is this Oprah Winfrey?
She claimed that the doors were unlocked, she walked inside, and was stopped by a salesperson.
When Hermes sells saddles that cost five thousand dollars and purses that for some reason cost as much as a saddle, the doors are going to be locked all the time. It's quite easy for a group of shoplifters to make off with thousands of dollars' worth of goods, and merchants have found that it's simpler just not to let them in at all. So when it's closing time at Hermes and the staff are asked to decide whether to admit a group of people centered around a small rotund undistinguished-looking black woman, wearing (as the initial reports stated) a headwrap and ordinary clothes, it's easy to understand why the answer might be No.
I agree that Oprah was probably discriminated against. I also think that if a white person and asked for admittance under similar circumstances, he or she might be refused entry. This is more a matter of social class perceptions than racial discrimination.
Oprah may be too susceptible to liberal appeals, but she is far from silly. No one who pulled herself up from povery to become one of the richest women in the world is silly; she is an astute businesswoman. I have it on the very best authority that an immersion in the life of an escaped slave, to prepare for her Oscar-winning performance in "Beloved," focused her less on being a female Jerry Springer and more on social issues. She is a liberal, yes; silly, no.
Good for Oprah.
re stern,
What'd he say?
(just curious)
I have been boycotting Oprah for all my life. I have never watched her show. And from what I read about her, I have not missed anything worth watching on her show.
The french aren't celebrity worshippers like in the US, plus, even your french high society snobs have the decency to call ahead and ask for extended hours, something about the semi-socialism actually leads to greater respect of the blue/white collar worker.
the store was closed. People were leaving, and the workers were still inside, she wanted to go in and shop after the posted closing hours.
My guess is that in order to fix the awkward situation that she caused by drawing attention to her faux pas (and having it completely backfire on her...), she arranged for some kind of token apology.
You can say many things about the french, but racism against blacks isn't one of them.
Respect for store hours is.
I used to work for this arrogant pompous British man that would wear the same Hermes tie every day. He would actually keep it twisted in what he thought appeared a casual way so that the Hermes tag showed. What a jerk. He was the only Brit that I've worked with in many years of working for a British owned company that I didn't like. The thing was filty dirty with food stains too. LOL
Oops, make that "filthy" dirty. Former spelling bee champ here who is very embarrassed.
It's a french thing.
What a spoiled American will interpret as racism is simply a respect for store hours for a frenchman.
It's hard, when bashing the French is a full time hobby, to understand that there are cultural differences that make American rudeness incomprehensible to your average frenchman.
No frenchman, no matter how famous, would attempt to have a store opened without a phonecall and reservation if that meant inconveniencing even an unimportant store clerk.
When in Rome, etc.
Thy sow is shameless. Seems she a dove? Her feathers are but borrowed, namely from thy fellow liberal Phil Donahue whose format thy sow has pillaged. Hence forth she has been keeping up thee credibility charade by condescention and deceit.
Richard II?
One must kindle in retrospect that thee apologist is none other than thy Frenchman. Immediate surrender is thee life and blood of thee Frenchman.
I'm thinking the employees accidentally left the door opened or needed the door opened after hours because of the party and Oprah was able to get inside. Then when the employee went up to her and said "sorry were closed. We are preparing for a party and that is why the door is still open." Then oprah probably tried to argue with them, "but, but I will only be a minute."
Oprah is probably leaving out key details.
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