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.
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