GENEVA (AP) \u2014 Oprah Winfrey says she had a racist encounter while shopping in Switzerland \u2014 and the national tourist office and the shop owner have apologized.<\/p>\n
The billionaire media mogul told the U.S. program “Entertainment Tonight” that a shop assistant in Zurich refused to show her a black handbag priced at $38,000 because “you will not be able to afford that.”<\/p>\n
Forbes magazine estimates that Winfrey earned $77 million in the year ending in June.<\/p>\n
Winfrey was in town to attend last month’s wedding of her longtime pal Tina Turner, who lives in a chateau along Lake Zurich.<\/p>\n
“We are very sorry for what happened to her, of course, because we think all of our guests and clients should be treated respectfully, in a professional way,” Daniela Baer, a spokeswoman for the Swiss tourism office, told The Associated Press on Friday.<\/p>\n
The tourism office also posted an apology on Twitter, saying “this person acted terribly wrong.”<\/p>\n
Shop owner Trudie Goetz told the BBC that an assistant had shown Winfrey several other items before the “misunderstanding” over the bag, which was kept behind a screen. The Blick newspaper quoted Goetz as saying the bag was priced at 35,000 Swiss francs ($38,000).<\/p>\n