Did that happen to Oprah, or Marsha Brady?
[sub]I have missed a few episodes of both shows.[/sub]
That truly is beyond Thunderdome.
If there is a cite for this it might make me think Oprah is only 99% a bitch.
Still? When was I on it before? I think the spittle on your end has obscured your view of my username, as I don’t think I’ve expressed a view yet. Show me where I claimed she was lying. It’s my opinion that she probably is, or that she, either willingly or innocently misinterpreted the situation. It’s my opinion that things probably happened the way the store says, but maybe she honestly believes differently. But as I said, those are only my opinions based on the evidence I have at this point. I’m not saying THIS HAPPENED (as you seem to be, at least).
Anyhow, it’s your opinion that she was discriminated against (I mean, you’re certainly not waiting for more evidence, now are you?), it’s your opinion that her story is more plausible. That’s all like, your opinion, man. However, all that’s moot. Know why?
Because I didn’t even express an opinion about this particular situation. Nope. I responded to the comment about “They’ve done it before,” and saying that isn’t a valid argument. Nothing more, nothing less.
Cape or white horse?
Just because the show airs doesn’t mean anyone watches it. It could be just shown on the French version of BBC America. Nice station, but not exactly a way to gain prominence in American pop culture and fame.
It was Cousin Oliver. Creepy little bastard. You missed it because everyone had stopped watching by then.
My apologies, I’ve confused you with someone else in the other thread about this. Did you read all the articles about this, because most of the evidence leads me to believe the store is lying? The store says Oprah was handed a card by a security guard and told to come back the next day. They say have this on tape. Oprah’s “people” say she spoke to at least two people who worked there. IF they have this on tape, they should release the tape showing that only the security guard spoke to Oprah. Oprah will be publicly embarrassed and exposed for her lies. Not only are you suggesting that Oprah made up the “North African” thing, but you have to believe that Hermes apologized for no reason, and that Oprah would lie about something she had to know they had on tape. AFAIK, Oprah has never done anything like this before, so that’s a mighty large indictment of her character to say that she would concoct a story like this. Besides, what would she have to gian by doing so?
The store denies those allegations (no big surprise) Here
Gayle King also denied the North African rumors.
Okay, so let me get this straight. We know that her show airs in France. We know that the clerks recognized her. So our default assumption should be that “the French DON’T KNOW WHO OPRAH IS”? Or was there some other reason that you’re attacking my response to that statement?
We know that the clerks recognized her?
Doesn’t Tina Turner live in Paris? Or at least in France? I’ll bet she would have been recognized; Oprah should have done a little name dropping.
Um, we don’t know that the clerks recognized her. That’s the entire point of people saying that the French don’t know who Oprah is.
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Just wanted to say “superb rant” to the OP. Great stuff, and well put.
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As to “how could they NOT recognize Oprah”, it’s my experience that not everybody looks like they look all the time (I have been known to fail to recognize my own mother in public on occasion), and especially that celebrities in person, on the street, can look vastly different from the way they look primped and posed on-screen. The first thing that popped into my head when I heard this story was, “No surprises there–tired clerks, it’s after closing, they’re not inclined to open back up for somebody who, although famous, at the moment doesn’t happen to look the way she does on TV.”
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I too found the “This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me!” a little bit hard to swallow, given the speaker’s history of childhood sexual abuse, her constant and public struggles with her weight and love life, and her against-all-odds clawing her way to the top in an industry that anybody with any sense realizes is a nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw jungle, and one furthermore which historically has not been kind to females, or blacks. I thought, “Babe, if being denied admittance to a tony store after hours is the worst thing that’s ever happened to you, then your bio must be totally wrong…”
Um, Agence France-Presse says they did. Do you have some conflicting source with equal credibility?
Cite, por favor. This would be the first I heard of it. Aside from one of Oprah’s entourage saying, “They knew who she was, if it was Celine Dion they would have let her in.” Which just sounds like idle speculation to me.
Great. Just what Middle America needs, another lie to get upset with the French about.
I linked it above already, and mentioned Agence France-Presse by name. Did you respond without reading the post?
Nope, I read it. Even clicked on the link. Just missed the blurb at the end of the article about the company confirming that they recognized her. Fair enough, I’m wrong.
So which is the more likely explanation:
1- The clerks/security-guard recognized Oprah (because, after all, only low-browed ignorant cretins don’t recognize every American pop-culture icon) and knew that she is a billionaire with access to a media pulpit to tens of millions of people, but they just soooooooooooooooooo hate the idea of their merchandise being carried by somebody with African ancestry that they decided to say “Go way!” and catapalted a metaphorical cow in her direction, hang the consequences
or
2= The clerks/security-guard honestly did not recognize her, had instructions not to let anybody in after hours except by special permission or appointment (by her own case, Oprah had neither), and were simply doing their job
As for the “Maybe the store people thought she was a North African shoplifter” allegation above, here’s a little known fact: most shoplifters shoplift when the store is OPEN. Oh sure, maybe if you’re Rex Reed or Hedy Lamarr or Winona Ryder you can have your people call ahead and say “My celebrity client would like to steal some of your merchandise but doesn’t want a big press stink when s/he gets arrested… could you open the store late for us and just kind of look the other way until they go through the detectors?”, but for your regular Joe and Jane Shoplifter it’s during regular business hours.
Also, had Tina Turner (who is undeniably famous in France) or Michael Jackson or even Denzel Washington or some other very famous, very wealthy African-American shown up, you can almost guarantee they’d have been allowed in. OTOH, had you or I or even one of the stars of Yes Dear (a show that I’m pretty sure isn’t seen in France) shown up, we’d have been snootily told to come back tomorrow. This is not about class but about money, purely and simply.