newsmakers

newsmakers

Swiss apologize to Oprah Winfrey

GENEVA

Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey says she ran into Swiss racism when a clerk at Trois Pommes, a pricey Zurich boutique, refused to show her a black handbag, telling one of the world’s richest women that she “will not be able to afford” the $38,000 price tag. Winfrey earned $77 million in the year ending in June, according to Forbes magazine.

“She said: ‘No, no, no, you don’t want to see that one. You want to see this one. Because that one will cost too much; you will not be able to afford that,’” Winfrey, appearing on the U.S. television program “Entertainment Tonight,” quoted the clerk as saying. “And I said, ‘Well, I did really want to see that one.’ And she refused to get it.”

Swiss tourism officials and the boutique owner were quick to offer apologies Friday.

“We are very sorry for what happened to her, of course, because we think all of our guests and clients should be treated respectfully, in a professional way,” Daniela Baer, a spokeswoman for the Swiss tourism office, told The Associated Press.

Alec Baldwin may be getting a talk show

LOS ANGELES

MSNBC’s lineup may be getting some serious firepower: Looks like Alec Baldwin is signing up to host a show on the cable news network.

Baldwin, the 55-year-old former co-star of NBC’s sitcom “30 Rock,” would bring his famously liberal point of view to a show that would air at 10 p.m. Fridays, according to the site Mediaite, which broke the story.

Bynes’ mom granted conservatorship

OXNARD, Calif.

A judge granted the mother of Amanda Bynes a temporary conservatorship Friday to make decisions about her daughter’s treatment in case the former child actress is released from a facility where she is being treated for mental-health issues.

The decision by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Glen M. Reiser came more than two weeks after Bynes, 27, was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital after months of erratic behavior.

The ruling will be in effect until Sept. 30.

A psychiatric hold on Bynes has been extended for 30 days but could be ended any time.

Vindicator wire services