Oprah Upset By Hermes Snub And Weak Apology (1 Viewer)

[StephenK]

I'm going to chime in here and address Oprah's "crash moment". Early on in her career, back in the Phil Donohue days, she did a show on the whole "Asian Whiz Kids" thing. This was in the early 80's after Time Magazine did a cover story on how Asian's were supposedly doing better at academics. The thing I remember clearly, was her asking the kids why they did so much better than "Americans". Now there were a few who were obviously recent immigrants, with the thick accents and all, but most of the "panel" were kids with no discernable accents and who were born here, as American as apple pie. In fact it was a talking point about how that didn't seem to make a difference. Yet she constantly referred to the whole panel as non-American. It wasn't obnoxious, she wasn't trying to be insulting, and was often complementary. Still, it was obvious that, in her mind, these kids were non-American. To this day, it still chaps me.

I don't doubt her charity work, and I'm sure she's a fine human being. I just found her ignorance on equating race with political and cultural allegiance remarkably dense, especially for a person of color, who had probably suffered racism herself, blatant and otherwise.

 

[Jason Hughes]

All good points Jonz.

I didn't mean to offend the members of the Oprah fan club (kidding), I really could care less about her one way or the other and have had little, if any opinion about her until this incident. I feel that the store is 100% correct (based on avaliable evidence) in the way they handled things. Most of my insults hurled her way are really just a result of this incident (the non-incident that she turned into one). She is being a cry-baby.

If she really thinks that they only refused entry to her because she is black (never mind the rules) than she needs to do a whole show and send people undercover to the store and try to have them get in after closing time. Maybe she can recruit some of her A-list Hollywood chums (like TomKat).

Send anonymous white guy to the store after closing. See if he gets in or not. Send anonymous black or Asian guy to the store and see if he gets in.

Next, send Tom Cruise and see if they let him in. They send over Halley Berry or Denzel Washington.

If they only let the white people in, celebrity or otherwise (as per her what she is insinuating) and not the others, then fine, fuck the stupid place, they're bastards/idiots/racists and it can burn to the ground for all I care and they would deserve to go out of business.

Oprah also needs to look at re-vamping her team/possee/entourage. Shouldn't her schedule maker have known the store hours in advance? I would think that if you were a handler/schedule maker for some hotshot celebrity you damn well should know what time the sun sets let alone when a store of this nature closes.

 

[JonZ]

"I didn't mean to offend the members of the Oprah fan club"

Belive me friend, I aint part of that club

 

[Drew Bethel]

Where is she screaming racism? I'm waiting...

 

[JohnCZ]

Racial issues aside.
If you are a store owner or even a pee-on closing up. If someone like Oprah or Donald Trump comes to the door 15 minutes late, you open the door.
A sales is a sale! Be it a celebrity or just someone with money to burn. I am suprised by how many retailers who turn away customers. Is there a law out there that dictates that you must close at 6:00 PM or else you go to jail!
If I was closing up shop and saw a caravan of well dressed people with secuity guards stop in front. I would open the door. Unless they were wearing masks and holding machine guns

 

[Jason Hughes]

Well, she is calling this her "crash" moment.

 

[RobertR]

No fan here either, only a Joe Friday "just the facts" attitude.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I can’t believe I’m writing here but this is about her seeing people inside shopping.

Well of course that there were people inside shopping, haven’t you shopped at a store at the last minute? When a store closes, what happens? People just don’t vanish!

First they close the door, don’t let in anyone, then wait until the remaining people inside finish their shopping and then completely turn off the lights! :rolleyes

 

[Jason Kirkpatri]

I can't believe I'm in on this thread but....



Best reason yet. If this happens to be a recurring customer/event, would a store owner forsake guaranteed future revenues for a one-time customer (assuming that the future revenue stream would be snuffed enough to not return).

As an aside, doesn't a store owner have a right to refuse a customer's offer (for legitimate reasons; obviously race would not be a legitimate reason). I mean, we all offer our bids to retailers (based on their price) and they can accept or reject. Hell, Costco wouldn't take my payment as the Costco card scanned belonged to my friend (food warehouse chain). I didn't feel slighted; they can refuse my offer as much as they want. Bad PR but whatever.

 

[Carl Miller]

My reading on this regarding racism is that there was some racial comment made about North Africans...I've also read that Oprah plans on making the entire incident public and in detail, when the new season of her show kicks off in September.

If it was her "crash moment", and the most humiliating moment of her life, why isn't she fully addressing it now? Waiting until September for her season opener to "tell all" just says to me that her ratings may be more important to her than the issue of racism is to her.

I'll pass on putting Oprah up on some pedestal because she donates tons of money to charity. This just makes her charitable, it doesn't necessarily mean she is a nice/decent/good person.

I'll also pass coming to the conclusion that there was racism involved until or unless it can be proven.

None of us know anything for sure about this other than that the store was closed.

I do know one thing for certain however...There is nothing I'd like more right now than the ability to call the President of Toyota and speak to him personally about the problems I'm having with my 2004 Solara.

I wonder if Oprah would call him for me?

 

[Holadem]

Something which interestingly enough has gotten little mention in this thread.

Lemme guess, she made it up?

--
H

 

[Carl Miller]

I think you hit on the key word...persona. We know her persona, but we don't know her real personality or her true character.

The tendency I think is for many people to automatically toss her into the spoiled celeb category whether or not she really is spoiled. That this happens to her is at least partly her own doing.

She does go on national television and show the country how she lives, and to anyone who may begrudge her wealth and fame, she will leave the impression that she's spoiled...regardless of whether or not she truly is.

I think what you're seeing from some people (not necessarily from anyone here) in their reaction to this story is a response to the way many celebrities publicly flaunt their wealth.

Celebrites used to let people see their wealth. Now many of them not only show it, but they also talk about it openly to such an extent that it seems somewhat "in your face". Many people are turned off by this. For those people, this story is fun fodder...Look at the rich celebrity who couldn't get in the store, boo hoo.

I don't know why racism is being written off as a factor. Racism is still quite pervasive in our society and throughout the world. I wouldn't be at all surprised if racism was an issue in this.

The only issue I have regarding the implication of racism from Oprah or her assistant is that she has chosen not to go into it now. I honestly feel that this calls into question her true motivation for making an issue of this, and feel it sort of chips away at her credibility.

It certainly does nothing to prevent people from thinking this is at least partly a ratings grab, and it basically feeds into some of the negative assumptions people make about her.

 

[Jason Hughes]

I agree. It sounds like a "coming attraction" for her upcoming season. Sad thing is, I'll probably watch or tape it just so I can

Or maybe I will be enlightened.

 

[Jace_A]

Oprah doesn't have the power to destroy Hermes, although I'm sure Oprah thinks she does. 99% of her viewers can't afford the products they sell, assuming they've even heard of the brand. Her "Crash" moment won't reduce the 2 year waiting list for Hermes bags by even a day.

The "North African" comment was never made. You don't think Gayle King (Oprah's acolyte and public voice until Oprah exploits the issue on said named show) would have been frothing at the mouth if it was, in fact, said? (In any event, Oprah doesn't closely resemble a North African). The whole, ridiculous incident centres on why Ms Winfrey was denied entrance to the store after hours. Obviously, she believes it was because she is black. She has clearly pulled this stunt before, with better results.

Whether Paris Hilton or Barbra Striesand would have received the same treatment at the same store at the same time and in the same circumstances is pure conjecture on Oprah's part and cannot ever be verified. But you bet she's gonna milk it for every last tear her increasingly demented live audience will undoubtably shed. If this is all she's got to complain about, then she's one lucky gal. You'd think she was trying to buy the weekly grocery with food stamps rather than a $30,000 watch for a pampered celeb pal. Girfriend needs to ring ahead next time. There's a lesson for ya.

 

[Vincent Matis]

I would bet that 99% of French people wouldn't recognize Oprah if they saw her in the street... Her show is not shown on a major network in France (I'm not sure it is shown at all in France).
Even her name isn't familiar...

 

[MarcusUdeh]

ET reported Hermes and Oprah deny such comments were made

 

[Jason Hughes]

LOL

You're going to have to bring the twine to tie me to a chair and some clamps (a la Clockwork Orange) to keep my eyes open!

 

[Brian Perry]

From an AP story:


This quote, and there are several similar floating around the news, is just infuriating. For people to start comparing her incident to the segregation of the past is offensive and nothing but race-baiting.

Based on the available info so far, the onus is on Oprah to prove any kind of discrimination. There seems to be a consensus that she arrived after closing. If she had arrived at 6:15 and the store normally closed at 6:30, I would then say the burden is on the store to explain why it turned her away (though there could be legitimate reasons for that as well).

As someone mentioned, this looks like more of a PR stunt than anything, as Oprah is waiting until the fall to air the issue on her show. The sad thing is that while Oprah's current silence may be an indication that she realizes she overreacted and was wrong, there are plenty of others willing to run with it. I hope most people can see through the BS, knowing that the danger in "crying wolf" outweighs any actual (or perceived) slight Oprah could have received in this case.

 

[MarcusUdeh]

Actually I believe you’d enjoy The Color Purple.

Beloved is the movie where I’d have to go (A Clockwork Orange) on your ass.

 

[GordonL]

Sometimes I post without thinking.