Winfrey, one of the world’s richest women, claimed that an assistant refused to serve her a £22,500 Tom Ford handbag, telling her that she wouldn’t be able to afford it.
Winfrey said that she left the shop calmly but that the experience was proof that racism continues to be a problem in Switzerland.
The incident comes amid a political row over plans by some Swiss towns to ban asylum seekers from public places, a measure that has been likened to apartheid.
Referring to her racist encounter, the host said:
“There’s two different ways to handle it. I could’ve had the whole blow-up thing… but it still exists, of course it does.”
Shop owner Trudie Gotz has since claimed that the event was a ‘misunderstanding’ and that the salesgirl who took care of Winfrey had tried to show her the same style of bag in other qualities.
Gotz further admitted that the salesgirl could speak both Italian and English but that her grasp of English wasn’t as good.
Switzerland officials have since apologized, and the Tourism office on Twitter have admitted that ‘this person acted terribly wrong’.
Oprah has since joked about the incident on Twitter, claiming that the shop assistant did her a ‘favour’ by reportedly refusing to sell her the highly priced item and that she would never splash the cash on such an expensive handbag.