A Starbucks barista apparently doesn’t know who Oprah Winfrey is.
During an interview E! News released early this week Winfrey and Wrinkle in Time co-stars Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon discussed the new movie set to hit theaters this Friday. During the interview, the stars were asked questions about what kind of daily tasks they still perform on their own, such as pumping gas, paying bills and making coffee runs.
Oprah admitted that she can’t remember the last time she pumped her own gas, but when the host asked if the trio goes to get their own coffee, Kaling said she doesn’t but Witherspoon and Oprah say they both get their own caffeine boost.
Kaling chimed in and asked jokingly, “Can you imagine writing ‘Oprah’ on a coffee cup?”
The question prompted her to recall the last time she ordered a beverage at Starbucks. The 64-year-old media mogul revealed the last time she placed an order at Starbucks the barista asked how to spell her name.
“Oh my god! I just went two days ago!” Oprah said. “And the woman said, ‘Name?’ And I said, ‘Oprah.’ And she said … ‘How do you spell that?’”
Considering that Oprah is one of the most famous people in the world and many people recognize her by just her first name, everyone burst into laughter and seemed to be in disbelief that someone would ask her how to spell Oprah’s name.
It’s not uncommon for a Starbucks barista to ask for the spelling of your name when you say it, especially when they have a reputation for spelling names wrong occasionally. In this case, maybe the barista wanted to make sure she spelled it correctly, or perhaps she wanted to show that she’s not star struck and wanted to treat the superstar like any regular customer. We hope one of these situations is the truth, because it’s hard to believe the Starbucks barista doesn’t know who Oprah is.
