OH NO, SHE did not.

A shop assistant in Switzerland told billionaire Oprah Winfrey that the handbag she was perusing in a swanky store was “too expensive” for her.

Speaking about her experiences of racism, Oprah told Entertainment Tonight that the clerk refused to show her a bag and suggested she look at another.

The store assistant said, “You don’t want to see that the one… that one will cost too much and you don’t want to see it”.

The incident happened when Oprah was visiting Zurich, Switzerland for Tina Turner’s wedding to Erwin Bach last month.

Plans to ban asylum seekers

One of the richest women has made the claims amid a political row in Switzerland over the plans of some towns to ban asylum seekers from public spaces such as swimming pools and libraries.

Over the past three decades, Swiss voters have regularly backed tougher asylum laws, most recently in a plebiscite in June that removed desertion from the military as grounds for receiving a safe haven.

The populist Swiss People’s Party – the largest single force in parliament – has proven particularly skillful at leading the debate on the asylum issue, pushing the message that Switzerland is a magnet for bogus asylum-seekers who are really seeking a better life in the wealthy nation.

- Additional reporting AFP