Oprah and North African gangs

Pete Samson:

OPRAH WINFREY was kicked out of an exclusive Paris store because they were "having problems with North African gangs", it was claimed yesterday.

The £125million-a-year chat show host was asked to leave the Hermes department store after she went in to buy singer Tina Turner a watch before going to a dinner party with her.

Sources close to Oprah said a staff member told her to leave because of the gang problems.

The source added: "If it had been Celine Dion or Britney Spears or Barbra Streisand, there is no way they would not have been let in."

Oprah called the firm's US president Robert Chavez to tell him she will never shop with them again.

Hermes last night apologised to Oprah over the incident - to be discussed on her hit talk show.

A spokeswoman said the star came to the store "a few minutes" after closing time and a security guard informed her that it was closed and told her to come back the next day.

The store said Oprah and her team arrived when "a private PR event was being set up inside".

It added: "Hermes regrets not having been able to accommodate Ms Winfrey and her team.

"Hermes apologises for any offence taken due to such circumstances."

The store is in the upmarket Rue du Faubourg St Honore - an area plagued by shoplifters in recent weeks.

Police alleged that many are French-speaking immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

A spokesman said: "We've warned shops to be on the lookout for organised gangs. Many of them are women.

"It may have been a doorperson was being too enthusiastic."

Hermes luxury store denies racial rebuff of Oprah Winfrey