Comedian Zarna Garg Locked In Hermès Bathroom For Over An Hour, Calls Out Store Over 'No Apology'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Indian-American comedian Zarna Garg has said she was locked inside a bathroom at a Hermès store in Berlin for more than an hour, accusing the luxury retailer of offering neither an apology nor an explanation after she was eventually freed.

Zarna Garg says she was locked in Hermès bathroom for over an hour

Garg shared a video documenting the incident on social media, showing repeated attempts by store employees to open the bathroom's sliding door after it became stuck.

In the opening moments of the footage, the comedian is heard from inside the bathroom saying, "I've been locked in the bathroom at the Hermes store in Berlin for about 20 minutes. the sliding door just wont open. it is very funny that a place that is so persnickety about perfection, this is happening there."

What began, according to Garg, as an unusual and potentially amusing mishap soon became increasingly concerning.

Her video shows several people attempting to open the door. After around 30 minutes, she said, firefighters were called to intervene. At one point, an employee can be heard expressing concern about damaging the door as efforts continued to get Garg out.

The comedian later said she remained trapped for more than an hour and accused the store of prioritising the condition of the door over the urgency of the situation.

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Garg started the caption writing,“We are all freaked out because I was locked shut in the bathroom of the Hermes store in Berlin for over an hour and no one cared! No apology, no explanation, not a word of comfort was offered. Not even to my kids or team who were watching in horror on the other side. I was locked in behind a door that was a cheap, flimsy piece of plywood in violation of the fire code.”

She continued,“At first we made light of it. Things happen. We started recording thinking we'll make a funny video about what you can do when locked in a bathroom. I made an origami village of paper towels and played games like guess how many towels I'm holding. As time went on, we got concerned that they were making no headway and demanded the managers call the Fire Department. The store was adamant that the door needed to be protected! It became clear that we were in a hostile territory.”

Garg added,“They asked me to start pushing the door but then yelled 'back away' as they jammed it with a crowbar. Alarms went off and I was scared that they had some equipment to blow the door open and possibly injure me. After an hour and 20 minutes, I make it out. No one says a word, apologizes, or makes eye contact with me. On the way out, an associate pushes a cheap bottle of champagne into my hands. A peace offering? We declined and they closed the door behind us and locked it shut.”

She wrote,“I'm a lawyer, I understand it. Their legal team probably advised them not to say a word. I write this with conflicted feelings as we're an adamantly positive page, but this ended so badly with such hostility that we felt compelled to share footage and dialogues of people involved. I'm not delusional, my video and a million others will come and go and it may only reinforce the lore of their brand. It might make them more desirable to the world.”

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"Perhaps I needed a wake up call to stop worrying about abusive people and take note of abusive business relationships and brands in my life! Also, how ironic that the company that makes a bag that is impossible to open and close now has a bathroom door that is impossible to open and close. Shakespearean tragedy but also so authentic. Useless bag, useless door, useless people," she concluded.

Garg's account combines the frustration of the incident with the kind of humour for which she is known. Even while describing the ordeal, she said she had initially tried to turn the experience into a joke, making an "origami village" out of paper towels and playing games while waiting for the door to be opened.

But the tone changed as the attempts to free her continued.

According to Garg, the situation escalated when tools were used on the door and alarms went off, leaving her worried that the efforts to open it could result in an injury. She said she was eventually released after an hour and 20 minutes.

Garg also alleged that no one at the store apologised or explained what had happened after she emerged. She said an associate offered her a bottle of champagne, which her group declined.

The comedian's post did not indicate whether Hermès or its Berlin store had responded publicly to her account of the incident. The video, however, showed firefighters eventually being brought in after employees were unable to open the bathroom door themselves.

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