Tommy Hilfiger and Oprah - The Hoax

I'm sure many of you have read this e-mail:

"I’m sure many of you watched the recent taping of the Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she asked him if the statements about race he was accused of saying were true.

Statements like”…”If I’d known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish, INDIAN and Asians would buy my clothes, I WOULD NOT have made them so nice. I wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for upper class white people.”

His answer to Oprah was a simple “YES”.

Where after she immediately asked him to leave her show.

A suggestion? Don’t buy your next shirt or perfume from Tommy Hilfiger. Let him get what he asked for. Let’s not buy his clothes, let’s put him in a financial state where he himself will not be able to afford the ridiculous prices he puts on his clothes."


Funnily enough, people seemed to believe this; no one ever said, "No I haven't watched this tape. I should see it. Lemme try Googling it." Bloggers such as this fell for it. However, after I pointed it out, he very graciously accepted what I said. A true gent. (By the way, this guy created Chetan Bhagat's new website, which is how I came across his blog. Isn't it neat how things just fit together? My last post provided the material for this one.)

Not me. My interest was piqued. Could such a high-profile man be so publicly bigoted (that too, sober. Not like Mel Gibson), and actually do business in America?

The story is a FAKE. If you don't believe me, then believe Oprah's website.

That's not to say that Hilfiger leads a blameless life, of course. Wikipedia says that he has been accused of running sweatshops on US territory. Oh and if you're a Guns n Roses fan, then the fact that he once assaulted Axl Rose might make you want to boycott the Hilfiger brand.



But wait. There are two points to be considered:

1. If I believe Wikipedia blindly, without corroborating these "facts", I'm as big a fool as the people who fell for that e-mail. But I'm feeling kinda lazy. Can someone else do it?

2. Where do you buy Tommy Hilfiger in India anyway? And who does?

Ciao.