Paris – Christian Dior says it’s firing designer John Galliano after an online video showed him praising Adolf Hitler — a bombshell certain to rock fashion’s elite world as the latest Paris ready-to-wear shows begin.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The French fashion house showed the famed British designer the door Tuesday following a string of accusations of racist and anti-Semitic rants against patrons of at least one trendy Paris cafe.
Galliano’s ouster raises questions about where Dior will turn for direction next, and the mental state of one of the world’s top talents in an intensely creative and high-pressure industry.
Dior said Tuesday it has launched layoff proceedings for Galliano, just days after he was suspended as its creative director pending an investigation into an alleged anti-Semitic incident in a Paris cafe last week.
On Monday, a video posted online showed Galliano drunkenly telling a cafe patron “I love Hitler” in a different incident.
Christian Dior’s response was severe, chastising “the particularly odious nature of the behavior and words” of Galliano in the video.
Galliano’s lawyer did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
As Paris launched its 2011-2012 fall-winter ready-to-wear shows Tuesday, Jessica Michault, fashion critic for the International Herald Tribune newspaper, said Galliano has “a long hard road in front of him” if he is ever to rebound.
She recalled the shock waves that resonated through the industry after photos of supermodel Kate Moss snorting cocaine emerged in 2005.
“He has to do what Kate Moss did — go out there and do a mea culpa,” she said. “That said, people in this industry are not going to be as forgiving for anti-Semitic and racist remarks as they were about drug abuse.”
Michault expected the case would amount to “a minor speed bump” for Dior, calling it “a house that has a long and illustrious history, and … (is) stronger than any one designer.”
Dior had came under international pressure after Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, one of the company’s spokesmodels, said in a statement she “will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way.”
I always thought the French were the biggest anti semites alive, at least they made it sound like that on vin.
They cannot afford NOT to fire him!!
I saw Galliano’s tirade on video. The guy’s a twerp! Why didn’t the Jewish guy just get up and beat the dog doo doo out of him?
for those that do not know – natalie portman a famous actress/celebrity is the face of Dior perfume and she is Israeli born Jewish and proud of it – so Dior most certainly had to make a call on this one or else they would have really felt the pinch.
Oh Vey…What Tichel will my wife wear now to shul on Shabbos …?
I’m never in favor of firing Jew haters simply because of what they say. All that does is make them martyrs for other Jew haters and leftists to rally around.
Natalie Portman is not frum but she is proud of her yiddeshkeit and should be commended for speaking out against this anti-semite. Did anyone see her Sunday night on the Academy awards? She was the classiest actress among all the recipients and if you haven’t seen “Black Swan” you should make a special trip to see it.