John Galliano Loses Title Over Anti-Semitic Rants
French President Francois Hollande reportedly has stripped fashion designer John Galliano of his Legion of Honor medal because of anti-Semitic behavior.
French media reported that a presidential decree published on France’s official journal said Galliano may no longer wear the medal – France’s highest honor – which he received in 2009.
Last year Galliano, a British citizen, lost his job as design director at Dior after he was filmed making anti-Semitic statements.
A French court later ruled he had made “public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity” in several incidents.
In one incident, Galliano stated his love for Adolf Hitler at a Paris bar and told people he believed were Jewish that their mothers should have been gassed.
He blamed his outbursts on addictions to drugs and alcohol. Galliano is 51 years old.
The text of the decree, which was published on Aug. 20, was not immediately available as French authorities issue such announcements only in printed form.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news the rest of 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Membership Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
