Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Celebrity Designer Suspended After Anti-Semitic Tirade

Another day, another anti-Semitic tirade from a celebrity. This time, the culprit is John Galliano, fashion icon and (until about an hour ago) head designer of Christian Dior.

Galliano pulled a Mel Gibson last night at Paris’s trendy La Perle bar and restaurant, where he was arrested for hurling anti-Semitic taunts at a couple dining there. According to the London Telegraph, the 50-year-old mega-designer “swore heavily, using anti-Jewish insults, before attacking [the] couple.” (Making anti-Semitic remarks is illegal in France and punishable with up to six months in the slammer.)

There is no word on what led to the altercation and the celeb’s lawyers are denying accusations of anti-Semitism.

Unsurprisingly (and in a smart PR move), Dior suspended Galliano pending the conclusion of an investigation into the incident. In a statement, Christian Dior Couture’s chairman and chief executive officer, Sidney Toledano, said that the company “has an unequivocal zero-tolerance policy regarding anti-Semitism and racism”

The arrest comes in the run-up to Paris fashion week, which is scheduled to start next Monday and at which Dior is one of the most high-profile shows.

We didn’t get an invite. Just sayin.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.