The Croc Who Croaked for Oprah’s Purse
Is Oprah Winfrey completely clueless about the pillaging of Africa for expensive trinkets? Or does she simply not give a damn?
When a store assistant in Switzerland insulted Oprah by suggesting that the billionaire TV mogul might not be able to afford the $35,000 crocodile-skin handbag she wanted to buy, Winfrey turned it into an international incident, crying racism and extracting a full-blown apology from the Swiss government.
Maybe the sales lady is a racist; maybe not. But the one character in this mini-drama whom we’ll never hear from is the croc who croaked for Oprah’s next purse.
Is Winfrey truly stone deaf to the death of millions of the great iconic species of the world so that she and her kind can have jewelry made from the tusks of elephants, handbags from the skins of crocodiles, rugs from the fur of tigers, wall decorations from the heads of antelope?
(The Newspaper Blick described the bag as a crocodile-leather Tom Ford design named for actress Jennifer Aniston, a fan of the American designer. We’re impressed.)
Or does her much vaunted humanitarianism and “spirituality” simply not extend to other living creatures?
Back in the United States, Winfrey joked with talk show host David Letterman about the scary moment she’d with an elephant while on safari in Tanzania (on the same trip).
Watch out, little fellow. Oprah may be thinking about an ivory handle for her handbag.