Hermes Apologizes to Oprah

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jun 23rd 2005 at 1:51AM

We've been following this Oprah story with interest. Apparently, the Hermés store in Paris made the mistake of turning away talk show queen Oprah from their store last week when she tried to go in to buy a watch. The excuse being given is that the store was closed for a public relations event. In a statement, the store said that Hermes regrets the incident and "apologizes for any offense taken due to such circumstances." Oprah is calling it her "crash moment" (the name is taken from the recent movie that touches on racism in Los Angeles). Oprah did show up fifteen minutes after the store had closed but admittedly she is a big customer (she is a huge fan of their ultra-pricey Birkin bags). Who's in the right here? Should the store have opened its door or is Oprah being a prima donna?

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Ron Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

They should have let Oprah shop even if it was after closing. She is one of the most influential TV personality in the United States and she has alot of clout. Besides considering that she is (or was) a loyal Hermes customer and owning several Birkin bags, this could come to hurt Hermes down the road when she talks about it on her show.

Fr?ric Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

If that's a "crash moment" they were wrong, if that's just because the shop was closed, they were right. Closed should mean closed for everbody. Any other behaviour reinforces prima donna attitude.

Rupert Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

She was certainly being a prima donna, but I agree with Ron that they shouldn't have hesitated to throw the doors open to her, given her ability to comment with great visibility upon the brand and her experience at the store. I'm a little surprised that she just showed up, though, and didn't have someone in her entourage arrange things before hand.

robert allen Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

What part of "The Store Was Closed" you people don't get I don't know!! And it had been closed for what, FIFTEEN MINUTES, please!! Why would Oprah or anyone else for that matter, expect to be allowed to enter a closed store?? I don't care how much she planned to spend, or who she (or for that matter her fans) think she is. The store was closed, what, she couldn't inform Tina Turner of that fact?? And she claims that "performers" only ask to be treated like "regular" people; well if you or I attempted to enter a closed store, what exactly do you think would have happened? Perhaps instead of calling it her "crash moment" maybe she should refer to it as her "reality check" and take heed, welcome to the real world Ms. Winfrey: like it or not.

Brian Sheridan Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

Her CRASH moment? She must be delusional. If Hermes closed early for a special event, I can see them apologizing but this was not racism. The store did not quickly close up when they saw a African American woman walking toward their front door. Oprah got treated like everyone else which is something she probably is not used to. Crash, indeed.

Uncle Blue Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

no matter, when you running the business. You realize there is very imporant customer. You would want to make big bucks. Once make mistake, you lose it. It's business gamble. :)

Ray Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

First of all it's clear some of you did not read the article. Stores like Hermes market the stores to highend buyers and it is very normal practice to allow 'wealthy patrons' to shop after hours...trust me I know I formerly worked for a billionaire. He would show up to stores like this all the time, I have never known of one incident were he was not allowed to enter...never I worked for him for over 14 years!!

It pretty clear what was going on if one is to believe those friends of Oprah who witnessed the situation...it was not about the private event!! Plus how much in the past has Oprah helped sell because she has mentioned their stores on television...not to mention that money she has spent on her own.

Hey I bet the next black person that comes to their stores they will act different...maybe!! Yes the French store really was stupid a billionaire, who is on television all over the world...comes to there store to buy a single gift and you say 'I Know who you are, and I don't care' I wonder where the store personel will be working next week?

Jackie Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

Ray is absolutely right. This was racism at its purist. However, nowadays most people of color who are middle class or above are completely beyond caring whether someone LIKES black or brown people. That's their business. The only thing that matters is that one is treated equally and with respect. The people at Hermes disrespected Oprah and this probably wouldn't have happened to her good friend Julia Roberts. More importantly from the store's perspective, they made an outrageously stupid business decision.

The people running this particular shop displayed an incredible lack of common sense and good judgement. I guarantee you they will hear about it from their superiors. Who is it that buys $6,000 handbags and $20,000 watches?? Wealthy people, that's who. And yes, most of them like to recieve special treatment now and then. If a shop owner does not like catering to the wealthy, he should sell $10 costume jewelry.

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential women in the world. I only wished that I manufactured some product that she liked to buy. I'd get up out of my bed at 2 am to sell it to her. You know why?? Because the next day she'd be talking about it on her show and my phone would be ringing off the hook.

Ron Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

It does not matter if the store was closed for a "private PR event", stores that cater to those types are known to do extraordinary things so that they can shop. Im sure they could have accomodated Oprah, considering she has alot of money to spend, because I think Forbes named her top earner in the entertainment business. She made over $225 million and you would think that Hermes (or any business) would want to see Oprah and her money at their establishment. Shoot if Oprah came to my business, I would throw everyone single person out or if i were closed I would open the place up in a heartbeat.

Alexa Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

It's called planning ahead as I'm sure the store would have accommodated her. Oprah's been around and knows how these things work so I'm sure there's more to this story than we know.

DownloadTHIS Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

I think that if all were right in the world, then this would be a simple matter, the store was closed and that's that. However, this is not the case here. While I agree with the store's decision to deny service because they were closed, from a public relations angle, this is the dumbest possible they could have done. Oprah has a massive audience that will listen if she says something.

tony Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

No question in my mind that their behaviour was racist. I totally concur with Ray and Jackie respecting their comments relative to the "normal practices" of stores such as Hermes involving wealthy patrons and the "highend market". It is unclear to me what that stores management could have been thinking. I only know that if I were the owner I would fire any and all persons connected with this fiasco--even in the absence of what is clearly going to be a public relations disaster for Hermes.

Man Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

If you ever been in a store as a celebrity enters, even a B-celeb, then you know how crowded and chaotic it gets. If Oprah would have went at a normal time people would have complained how she took over.
Also if you've been to Europe recently you should've notice that their attitudes on minorities is not as nice as it was decades ago.

doubtful Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

Would anytime Oprah doesn't get what she wants qualify as a Crash moment for her?

Stone Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

>Would anytime Oprah doesn't get what she wants qualify as a Crash moment for her?

Apparently, the managers wouldn't let her in because they had "a problem with North Africans recently"

If you've seen the movie Crash, you'll understand the paralells.

Nolo Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

Stunning.
I think this is absolutely ridiculous.
The store is closed means the store is closed.
At least, that's what it means when I show up 15 minutes after the lock-up.
I agree with comments from above in that Oprah (although I do believe is a very nice woman) should consider this a reality-check. The great majority deal with this type of Crash... every day!
I'm sure that Oprah would likely have been able to explain the situation quite easily to Ms. Turner AND may even have been able to secure a gift THE FOLLOWING DAY.

Dylan Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

People get real,High-end stores DO NOT turn away celebrity customers! when has Madonna or jennifer lopez ever been turned away from a designer store?
its ludricious not to recognise this for what it is-the shop attendant probably thought here's a group of black people and i can't be bothered dealing with them- we're closed!
Hermes have just made a Big Big mistake

oh please! Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

This seems a bit absurd to me....
Was there a prior arrangement to Oprah that the store did not honor?
So she doesn't get what she wants so she yells discrimination! Give me a break! She is such a phony hypocrite! So wrapped up in her self-importance to see the situation for what it really was. She didn�t even have the courtesy to call ahead of time and make after hour arrangements. What a sad thing to make such a huge deal about.

zeke Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

What is truly sad about this brouhaha is the fact that so many of us seem to take it for granted that Oprah, or any celebrity, should automatically receive special treatment. Oprah's reaction to a perfectly normal situation (arriving at a business after it has closed) was to pull the "Do you know who I am?" card. When she didn't get what she expected as her due (in other words, when she was treated like one of us mere mortals) she decided it must be racism. I mean, what else could explain a snub to the Queen of Daytime Television, the all-powerful Oprah? (By the way, it is my understanding that the alleged comment about "North Africans" is spurious.) As Americans, we should revel in our hard-fought-for traditions of democracy and equality, rejecting as noxious the trappings of nobility and class. Instead, we seem to be in thrall to an artificially manufactured peerage of celebrities, to whom we are more than willing to bow and scrape and touch our forelock lest we give offense.

mariana Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM

France and most of Europe has a serious crime problem due to its North African mainly Muslim immigrants. Think New York in the 70s and 80s type crime problem. There's simply nothing as bad in any American city today. Their Muslim community has also been responsible for a mess of hate crimes against Jews and gay people. Just google. You'll find tons of information. I wouldn't doubt if there really was some sort of incident at the Hermes store earlier, but that's no excuse for their racist behavior.

Anyway, I bet they didn't recognize her as well. I wouldn't recognize her sans makeup or tv camera. Of course, I once stood next to Claudia Schiffer for ten minutes and had no clue it was her. I even spoke to her and had no idea and this was back when she was doing those Guess ads.

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