Viva la France!

[MTI]

We've had our disagreements with our Franco friends . . . but leave it to the folks at Hermes (pron. "air mess") in Paris to snub Mega-Person Oprah Winfrey and her entourage! I may have to don a beret, just to tip it to them.

[J. R. B.]

Tell me more I missed this in the news. Anyone who snubbs Oprah Windbag deserves a shot of good bourbon or a beer.

One of the most humiliating moments of Oprah's life

"She will shop where people appreciate her business, and she doesn't believe that any longer includes Hermes," one of Oprah's close friend said.
French luxury store Hermes has apologised to American television celebrity Oprah Winfrey for turning her away from one of its Paris boutiques last week, saying when she came knocking the store was closed for a public relations event.

The U.S. talk show host and "an entourage" unsuccessfully tried to enter a Hermes boutique on the posh Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore at 6:45 p.m. on June 14, Hermes said in a statement.

"People were in the store and they were shopping. Oprah was at the door and she was not allowed into the store," said Gayle King, a friend of Winfrey who witnessed the incident, to American television program Entertainment Tonight. "Oprah describes it herself as 'one of the most humiliating moments of her life.'"

"She's really OK. Her position is, 'I will shop where people appreciate my business, and I don't believe that any longer includes Hermes,'" King said.

Normal closing time is 6:30 p.m., though high-end shops are known to make exceptions for celebrities. On that particular night, however, ``a private public relations event was being prepared inside,'' the Hermes statement said.

"Hermes regrets not having been able to welcome Madame Oprah Winfrey and the people accompanying her to give them all the attention and service that Hermes is committed to giving each of its clients in the world," said the statement released Tuesday. "Hermes expresses its sincere regrets for any misunderstanding that these circumstances could have caused."

[boneheaddoctor]

THe French hate everything and everyone who isn't bribing them.....


Doesn't surprise me at all.

[yal]

This is not the first time it has happened to Oprah. It also happened to her here in New York or somewhere else in the US, she talked about it on her show once.

I know they have a major race problem with North Africans in Europe so maybe they thought she and her groupies were a bunch of them.

[boneheaddoctor]

I think the biggest problem is she thought she was entitled to private after hours shopping......she found out otherwise.

[MTI]

According to a report in the New York Daily News, Winfrey believes she would have been admitted to the store had she been a white celebrity.

"If it had been Celine Dion or Britney Spears or Barbra Streisand, there is no way they would not be let in that store," a friend of Winfrey's told the Daily News. Winfrey's spokesperson confirmed the Daily News report.

The spokesperson also confirmed that store clerks recognised Winfrey when she asked to pop in for a moment to buy a watch for her friend, singer Tina Turner.

Celine . . . maybe . . . some love for the franophones. . . but you'd hope they'd slam the door on Britney or Babs.