The House of Chanel has issued an apology after the 'Empire' actress said she was racially profiled while trying to buy glasses at the Chanel store in Chicago.
- May 13, 2017
AceShowbiz - Chanel has issued an apology after Gabourey Sidibe said she was racially profiled while trying to buy frames at the Chanel store in Chicago. A representative for the House of Chanel says the company is sorry the "Empire" actress "felt unwelcomed and offended" at the store.
In an essay for Lenny Letter earlier this week, Gabourey said she tried to buy a pair of glasses and a pair of sandals for her "Empire" co-star Taraji P. Henson at the store near her apartment, but was initially ignored by a salesperson, who directed her across the street to a discount store instead.
"I'd love to pretend she was being polite, and I'm sure she would love to pretend she was polite, but she was actually condescending," wrote Gabourey, "... I knew what she was doing. She had decided after a single look at me that I wasn't there to spend any money."
"No matter how dressed up I get, I'm never going to be able to dress up my skin color to look like what certain people perceive to be an actual customer," the actress continued. "Depending on the store, I either look like a thief or a waste of time. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground between no attention and too much attention."
The Oscar-nominee added, "I suspect it's because I'm black, but it could also be because I'm fat. Maybe my whole life, every time I thought someone was being racist, they were actually mistreating me because I'm fat. That sucks too. That's not OK."
Following the publication of Gabourey's essay, Chanel released a statement that read, "CHANEL expresses our sincerest regret for the boutique customer service experience that Ms. Sidibe mentioned in the essay she published on a website. We are sorry that she felt unwelcome and offended."
"We took her words very seriously and immediately investigated to understand what happened, knowing that this is absolutely not in line with the high standards that CHANEL wishes to provide to our customers," continued the statement.
"We are strongly committed to provide anyone who comes in our boutiques with the best customer service, and we do hope that in the future Ms. Sidibe will choose to come back to a CHANEL boutique and experience the real CHANEL customer experience," it added.
