John Galliano Fired from Christian Dior, But Does It Even Matter?

Mar. 1, 2011

By Madison Moore info

madison moore is a staff writer at Thought Catalog. feel free to email him at: madison@thoughtcatalog.com. Follow him ...

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It’s the end of an era at the House of Dior. John Galliano, who had been the head designer of Christian Dior since 1997, got fired today after allegations of a Mel Gibson style, racist, anti-Semitic drunken tirade at a café in Paris. Sidney Toledano, Dior’s president and CEO, said “I condemn most firmly the statements made by John Galliano which are a total contradiction with the essential values that have always been defended by the House of Christian Dior.”

“I love Hitler.” – John Galliano

Couture-gate comes on the heels of a video released just yesterday of a group of people taunting the designer at a Paris café,  slamming the couturier with more allegations of anti-Semitism. In the clip, a calm Galliano is obviously wasted, slurring his way through insults such as “Your bag is ugly” and “I love Hitler.” Dior felt pressure to fire Galliano after Academy Award winner and face of Dior Cherie perfume released a statement to the New York Times saying that she was “disgusted and shocked” and “ will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way.”

Franca Sozzani, Editor in Chief of Vogue Italia, had this to say about Mr. Galliano’s tirade: “An explosion was more than probable when you add together the amount of alcohol Galliano had consumed and the provocations of the people speaking to him. Of course we condemn the extremely seriously racist content of what he said…” but he “was clearly provoked, and filmed, while obviously inebriated.”

Dior may have been looking for a way to push Galliano out for some time now, since he’s been with the house for fourteen years. But who has the technical facility to deliver ready-to-wear and, importantly, couture with the same virtuosity as Galliano? In many ways, his name began to eclipse the brand, which no luxury fashion house takes kindly to. We saw the same situation with Hedi Slimane of Dior Homme, who left the label amid much controversy when his name meant more than “Dior Homme.”

It’s hard to believe that John Galliano, perhaps the most talented designer working today, who has literally dressed everybody, and who is responsible for some of the most beautiful, creative, and imaginative couture we have ever seen, could be responsible for such an ugly, racist tirade. Especially given that Galliano himself is sort of a mutt— Gibraltarian and Andalusian. I totally condemn racism of any kind, but this whole thing seems to me like a set up. People do and say dumb stuff when they’re plastered out of their minds. Clearly this video was meant to stir the pot and get Galliano in even deeper trouble than he was already in.

With Paris Fashion Week just getting started, and the Christian Dior runway show set for this Friday, it will be interesting to see how the fashion industry responds to the Galliano firing. Who will have who’s back? What does Anna Wintour think? Marc Jacobs? And, really, what does Daphne Guinness think?

This couture-gate firing is temporary, because at the end of the day, fashion is a multi-billion dollar business. It’s about what sells, and it’s hard to believe that with all the other neuroses plaguing fashion people that Galliano will be totally cut off. Remember when Terry Richardson got naked and started “waggling the biggest dick I’d ever seen dangerously close to my unclothed person” in front of a model? Magazines blacklisted him, but not for long. Or the Kate Moss and cocaine thing? She’s still the biggest selling model of all time. Or what about Naomi Campbell BitchBerry slapping the hell out of everybody? As far as I know, she’s still working.

Fashion people are the closest we’ve got to royalty. While it’s sad to admit, even if all the allegations turn out to be true and Galliano goes away and sits in the corner of his beach house in St. Barths for 6 months, something tells me that when he comes back, nobody will ever remember a thing he said and he’ll go back to being The World’s Greatest Designer. TC mark

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  • Jody Fossler

    if i hear the term “anti-semitic” one more time i'm going to buy a gun

    • azi

      I guess it's easy not being a jew?

  • http://hbgwhem.tumblr.com/ HBGWHEM

    ridiculous he was pushed out of Dior. cameraphones suck and so do the people attached to them. is everyone really convinced that someone as super gay as galliano “love(s) hitler”? any douchebag can provoke someone with a name now and get them fired with their stupid little videos and the person taking the video can even pocket some cash for it to0.

    • http://twitter.com/rislynsey christopher lynsey

      Yeah.

      • http://www.madisonmooreonline.com Madison Moore

        dude, SPOT on!!!

      • realtalk

        No not spot on. Whilst i agree anyone can make a person of a certain inebriation to say anything, when you accept certain positions in a company you accept mare than just 'doing your job'. You actually become a spokesperson for the company. I am sure his contract reflected that.

        If I was captured on camera via a phone saying the same thing it wouldn't get me sacked however if I was in an equivalent position in my company and said the same things I would expect to (and would) get sacked.If you don't want that responsibility be prepared for a smaller pay-check from a lesser role.

        In saying that, it will all soon be forgotten and he will bounce back.

      • Ryan O'Connell

        GEE i've been drunk 5000 times and I've never said something like, “I love Hitler!” But maybe I've just been doing it wrong!

        Alcohol is like truth serum. This shit right here is exposing his true colors. DISGUSTO.

    • Juiceboxing

      Um – Hitler himself was rumored to be a closeted gay. Being gay doesn't make you infallible, it doesn't make you a decent human being NOT capable of hate.

  • http://twitter.com/chantzerolin Chantz Erolin

    whose* back

  • http://acidloudacid.blogspot.com Piquo

    NATALIE PORTMAN

  • broberlin

    Who cares if it was a set-up? He said what he said and deserves to be fired for it.

  • icwhatudidthere

    Terry Richardson survived his -gate because there has always been a seedy undercurrent to Terry Richardson. Everyone already knew about and acknowledged its presence, the actual confession just confirmed it. Then everyone went, “eh? whatever” and it was back to work.

    Kate Moss and cocaine? Same deal. Everyone already knew, half of the people were doing it beside her. The only scandal was in the public media.

    Galliano is obviously too big a name to just go away and leave the industry. He'll be back soon. But as Mel Gibson has shown, alcohol brings out the truth.

    In the meantime, bring back Hedi. Absolutely love him.

    • http://www.madisonmooreonline.com Madison Moore

      i love hedi slimane. biggest hedi disciple ever. so i totally agree with you.

  • fl

    You had me at Daphne Guinness.

  • ROOL

    Amazing article Madison.

  • http://www.madisonmooreonline.com Madison Moore

    One more thing!: this firing is probably worse news for christian dior than it is for john galliano. the house of dior is one of the only real couture houses left. who could ***possibly*** take over!?!

  • NoahTourjee

    Excuse me? I'm sorry. How do you find it so difficult to believe disgusting anti-semitic racist trash is successful? Because from where I'm typing, we live in an institution of racism. This man just happens to conciously embrace that sickness. Truly pathetic. Oh wait, he was drunk…I mean thats not rlly his fault I don't think.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ESUEVBYU6SSE4QJRB45LQRCN7A Rahul

    The President of France is Jewish. Diors Chief Executive Toledano is also Jewish , like so many other CEO's across the world. Hollywood – producers , studios , many directors and actors are jews , jews have a big influence in the film industry , bad for Galliano. The media , magazines and newspapers , news channels in UK , USA and even France are generally founded and owned by Jews or have a significant Jewish influence and employees or board members , extremely bad for Galliano and Dior. They will not forget , in fact they will seek to punish the man. In France many lawyers and judges are Jews , he will be punished in court , Frances laws are tough on this , he many even face jail , and i hope does , i cannot tolerate any form of racism or discrimination to any people. The man is a disgrace , and as Alan Sugar a billionaire Jew in the UK wrote on his twitter he should be punished most severely for the rest of his life and the Jews will make sure of it , they have very long memories and long money especially in France UK and USA.The man is gay and he likes Hitler , he would be the first to be targeted under any fascist rule , may he be punished with the full force of French law and then be punished by the very people he hates so much.

    • Nan

      I'm glad there are Jews holding powerful positions, they're all the Jews have to prevent Anti-Semitism from becoming acceptable

  • Ruthlezz

    Context is everything. I find anyone who opines to know that this man holds anti-Semitic hate in his heart far more deplorable than the content of this youtube clip. Hate speech is when you are dictator declaring that a popular uprising in your country was caused by 'the Americans and the Jews'.

    If I'm like ten deep and some assholes are telling me I'm a nazi for like five minutes maybe that would seem like a clever comeback. You can feel the sarcasm in his tone.

    Am I alone in believing that people should be no more held accountable for harmless dumb shit that they said than being made to realize it was dumb?

    • NoahTourjee

      Yeah, you are alone. Darkness can come out when you're 10 deep, no one doubts that. I'm sure most of us have been there. People get fucking wasted, and yet in my circle – worst among them say shit far less offensive and disgusting as this asshole. When things get 'real' and your wasted and upset, I don't think its Excusable to tell people that you love Hitler and that that persons family would have been gassed to death.

      • Ruthlezz

        You demonstrate the immorality of this individual by claiming a morally superior high ground ('I don't chill with racists'). You ignore the problems–that conversations are fluid and this conversation is taken out of context. A conversation/bar room shouting match about Hitler necessitates that you talk about Hitler. There exist certain scenarios in which a person might say that they 'love Hitler' sarcastically in such a way that everyone present understands that they do not mean this literally. The bit about the ovens is distasteful no matter how you frame it, but I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to call hate speech–as in this guy hates Jews and meant what he said literally. I am also glad that I don't live in a country like France with silly laws on speech and what sort of religious symbols you can wear to school. And in closing,I bid you peace.

        Luv, Haim Levine.

      • NoahTourjee

        You are right. I have had many conversations flow like a river to the call for genocide – but they were all of them framed very well, not to mention sarcastic.

      • Ruthlezz

        OK, cool, getting somewhere, you're using sarcasm now. And what you just said without the context of our previous comments could be chopped with quotes and made to look like you are not being sarcastic and truly have had these river-like dialectics ending in calls for genocide.

        What I mean to say is that context matters and with more context it could have made what Galliano said look more or less (however unlikely) ugly to varying degrees. In my world view, the person Galliano hurt most in this rant was Galliano. I oppose nearly all laws limiting speech but also believe that hate speech and Anti-Semitism are disgusting. Additionally, I believe that people think, say and type ridiculous/ugly/spiteful/hateful things that they do not mean. Therefore, people should accept Galliano's apology insofar as they would want to be forgiven for something stupid or ugly they said.

  • ashkenazi

    I don't understand, how with common reasoning, the whole world and “intellectual-liberals” can be so easily fooled by this one. Sure, Galliano's words are hardly to be condoned, nor can this be excused by his inebriation. Ultimately with two, I suppose, Israeli girls, or whatever, who just happened to provoke a plastic-faced fag fashion designer (who is mind you, not the greatest designer alive, dogma sucks) and who, more than trying to insult jews or usher anti-semitism in the fashion world (8-)), just tried to fuck with two irking bitches.

    We all made Jew jokes. As we did black jokes. And uttered “NIGGER”. This spoiled racism shit just keeps it going, rather than just getting over this finally. How painless it would be to just shrug it off. Haha Hitler.

    • AJ

      Speak for yourself. You know what happens when I get drunk? I don't make racist remarks. You know what happens when I'm drunk and provoked? I don't make racist remarks.

  • Nan

    those girls sounded like huge cunts, sucks that they're having the last laugh.

    • http://www.madisonmooreonline.com Madison Moore

      right! and the ridiculous part is that they were clearly joking, not really that offended, and laughing. sounds like a set up to me!

      • Juiceboxing

        Those girls are European and English is clearly not their first language. As a victim of racist remarks to my face – it isn't a pretty thing and sometimes it is so absurd one has to laugh because you don't know what else to say.

      • NoahTourjee

        Uhm yes, thank you. Obviously those girls are not literally giggling to his remarks, they are dumbfounded, confused, and probably horrified.

  • Juiceboxing

    This article is so narrow-minded and only could've been written as someone who works exclusively in fashion. First of all — fashion people are not the closest 'we' have to royalty – unless the we defined here is people in the fashion world. The majority of Americans don't know who he is – but most know the First family in the White house. Drug use is prevalent in the fashion industry (and many other industries) – sure the Kate Moss thing was a scandal, but a scandal many could be found guilty of. And sadly sexism/sexual assault as demonstrated as Terry R. is also a phenomenon that happens all over the workforce..and men are just sent to counseling. Naomi and her rage is directed at a single person fueled by her own issues; not irrational racist hate projected out to anyone at a snap judgement.

    “. I totally condemn racism of any kind, but this whole thing seems to me like a set up. People do and say dumb stuff when they’re plastered out of their minds. Clearly this video was meant to stir the pot and get Galliano in even deeper trouble than he was already in.”

    As commented above; Anti-Semitism is really serious and offends LARGE players in all industries. Galliano was in trouble for racism; even if the video were a 'set-up', he himself said those words in a drunken state with no inhibitions. And he's done it before. This isn't an isolated incident.

    Should we support geniuses who are also terrible people? If Hitler happened to be a talented musician – should he have become successful? Does it matter? Hitler had his downfall – he was 'too big' indeed, in WWII. But he left for good. As he should've.

  • Bita_us110

    what people don't relize is that, Hitler was a fuckin zionist himself, and coz of him there is a Israel today.

    • Nan

      ok, thanks for that.

    • NoahTourjee

      Wait. You should forward that info to Dior, or if you can't maybe I can do it for you.

  • Pm

    this is a good side of the thing, because its a bit humorous afterall. if the ceo was jewish then i am sure it caused quite an alarm, but like the italian vogue editor said, they were probably fucking with him, on top of it filming him, and he was shit faced.
    it does totally suck that your life is so stressed that even when you dont know what the hell you are saying its goin to be under scrutiny.
    i will say it sucks that he said that, but we've all said shit right?
    and what the hell was dior before jg? he mainstreamed it, he hip-hopped it, he coutured it!
    forgive him and lets geton with it. if elbaz goes there then whowill go to lanvin?
    just keep him on, isnt there enough tragedy in the fashion world for something like this to ruin an already struggling industry, plus a legend like jg!

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