“I Unreservedly Apologize” – Galliano, Fired For Anti-Semitic Comments

Galliano, the British fashion designer fired after a drunken bar episode in which he made highly-offensive anti-semitic remarks, says now, “I unreservedly apologize for my behavior in causing any offense,” adding, “”Anti-Semitism and racism have no part in our society.”

Read: “Galliano, Top Dior Designer, Fired After Anti-Semitic Comments“

The gay, now-former head designer for Christian Dior, fired after saying in a bar last Friday, “I love Hitler” … “People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers would all be fucking gassed,” which was reportedly followed by, “Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead … Fucking Asian bastard, I will kill you.”

Read: “Is Russian Gay Activist Nikolai Alekseev Anti-Semitic?“

Women’s Wear Daily had reported earlier, “Sidney Toledano, Dior’s president and chief executive officer, said, ‘We unequivocally condemn the statements made by John Galliano which are in total contradiction to the longstanding core values of  Christian Dior.’”

Nina Shen Rastogi at Slate asks, “Is a Comeback Possible?,” and writes, “[t]he designer seems to be taking the right steps toward rehabilitation in the public eye. First he’s going to rehab, and now he’s just made a relatively forthright public apology. In that statement, he also attempts to create a counter-narrative for the past week’s events (emphasis ours)”

A number of independent witnesses have given evidence and have told the police that I was subjected to verbal harassment and an unprovoked assault when an individual tried to hit me with a chair having taken violent exception to my look and my clothing. For these reasons I have commenced proceedings for defamation and the threats made against me.

She posits, “Will it be enough to pave the way for Galliano’s return? I’m going to place my bets on yes.”

Meanwhile, Julia Rubin at Styleite asks, “Where Is The Jewish Response To The Galliano Scandal?,” while offering, “I also happen to be Jewish.”

In an honest and passionate divulging, Rubin writes, “I am not an authority. I do not in any way speak for all Jews, but I can at least attempt to share the feelings of a Jewish fashion blogger and her Jewish family and friends. To give some background, I attended Jewish day school for nine years and went to Jewish summer camps. Both my high school and college had healthy Jewish populations. I identify with Judaism as a culture more so than as a religion, a common experience among many young American Jews.”

“I’ve been disappointed by the fashion world’s response thus far, and even more disappointed by the deafening silence of Jewish members of the fashion community,” writes Rubin, in a rightly-accusatory tone. “I want to know what Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan think. I want to know what Diane von Furstenberg, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, thinks. I want to know what Israelis Yigal Azrouël, Elie Tahari and Alber Elbaz (who very well may replace Galliano at Dior) think. I want to hear from Marc Jacobs and Isaac Mizrahi and Zac Posen. Because even though Jews make up 0.2% of the population, sometimes it feels like they all ended up in fashion.”

Rubin says, “I cannot cast judgment on Galliano’s character,” and reminds us, “As proud Jew and lover of fashion Natalie Portman so eloquently put it: “I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful.”