Website Home

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Designer John Galliano awaits verdict over alleged anti-Semitic slurs

John Galliano arrives at a Paris police station, February 28, 2011, where he faced accusations of making illegal anti-Semitic slurs.















Galliano said he was sorry for an incident which caused the Dior fashion house to fire him from his creative director position.

Disgraced former Christian Dior designer John Galliano is awaiting a verdict in a Paris court over charges he made anti-Semitic insults in a bar.

Galliano was fired from his job as creative director of the luxury powerhouse after the accusations emerged earlier this year.

The court is expected to issue a verdict Thursday. Galliano faces charges of "public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity."

Earlier this year, a video posted on the website of British daily The Sun showed Galliano arguing with a couple at La Perle. It was unclear when the video was recorded, but in it, he was dressed differently than on Thursday. At one point in the video, starting in mid-conversation, a woman's voice asks Galliano, "Are you blond, with blue eyes?"

Galliano, speaking in slurred speech, replied: "No, but I love Hitler, and people like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers, would be ... gassed and ... dead."

If convicted, he could face up to six months in prison and up to $32,175 in fines. Prosecutors requested a fine of about half that and no jail time.

Galliano testified that he had been under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs and couldn't recall the incidents in question. He said he was sorry "for the sadness that this whole affair has caused."

No comments:

Post a Comment