John Galliano Files Anti-Defamation Claim Against Paris Couple
Sometimes, having a high-profile position in the fashion industry isn't necessarily a good thing. Just ask John Galliano.
The Dior creative director has filed an anti-defamation claim against a Paris couple who accused him of being anti-Semitic and abusive toward them, reports WWD.
Galliano's lawyer, Stephane Zerbib, tells the paper his client has provided police with three witness statements proving he never made racist remarks and that Galliano "is not guilty and is not embroiled in a court case or anything."
Moreover, he feels that his recent suspension from Dior "is a decision that has been made without verification of the facts and based on one side of the story and he is very shocked about that."
So just what actually happened?
According to police reports, the alleged victims, Geraldine Bloch and Philippe Virgiti, were at La Perle in Paris's Third Arrondissement on the evening of February 24 when the alleged incident with Galliano occurred.
"I was sitting with a friend and the table next to us was open," Bloch, who works at the Institut du Monde Arabe, told Europe 1 on Friday. "A bizarre guy sat down, ordered a mojito and started to tell me I was a bitch. At the beginning it was just 'dirty bitch.'"
Le Figaro, which obtained copies of the police reports, says things escalated from there. Galliano allegedly insulted Bloch's thighs, eyebrows, and boots, and, according to an English translation on the Huffington Post, reportedly shouted, "Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead!" at her before turning to Virgiti and saying, "F—king Asian bastard, I will kill you!"
"We couldn't get rid of him, he was a friend of the owner," Bloch told Europe 1, adding that fellow patrons informed her the rude man was the famous Galliano. "I'm not Jewish but in this case, I feel a solidarity with an Arab person and a Jewish person."
Galliano allegedly kept provoking the couple—there was even some hair pulling, according to reports—and then the police arrived and took him to the station, where he tested positive for the "Alcotest" at 1.01g. Galliano was then examined at Hotel Dieu hospital before being driven home by his chauffeur, who had been waiting outside.
According to the Cut, several eyewitnesses have backed Galliano's claims that he never uttered any anti-Semitic statements.
"I'm an observant Jew, and I know from my own experiences with him that there's no way he hates Jewish people," an insider who has collaborated with Galliano tells the site. "He's incredibly gentle."
However this plays out, one thing's for sure—all eyes will be on Dior's March 4 fashion show in Paris.
