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| Television talk show host Oprah Winfrey
addresses reporters as part of the Television Critics Association
Press Tour on Jan. 23, 2005, in the Universal City section of Los
Angeles. The luxury store Hermes has apologized to Winfrey for
turning her away from one of its Paris boutiques on June 14, 2005,
saying it was closed for a public relations event when she came
knocking.(AP Photo/Ric Francis) |
The luxury store Hermes has apologized to Oprah Winfrey for turning her
away from one of its Paris boutiques
last week, saying it was closed for a public relations
event when she came knocking.
The talk-show host and "an entourage" unsuccessfully tried to
enter an Hermes boutique on Paris' 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," Gayle King, a friend of Winfrey
who witnessed the incident, told
syndicated TV show "Entertainment Tonight." "Oprah
describes it herself as `one of the most humiliating moments of her
life.'"
King said it's unlikely that Winfrey will shop there again. "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.
The store's normal closing time is 6:30 p.m., although 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
statement from Hermes 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."
A spokeswoman for Winfrey's Chicago-based Harpo Productions told The
Associated Press Thursday the talk-show host plans to discuss her "Crash"
moment when "The Oprah Winfrey Show" returns to the air in September.
"Crash" is a film dealing with race
relations.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2005-06-24 16:19
