Iconic fashion designer John Galliano, 50, has been found guilty of the anti-Semitic comments to a couple he made back in February at La Perle bar in the Marais District in Paris.
The court ordered Galliano to pay 6,000 euros ( or $8,500) today in Parisian court. He was also ordered to pay a symbolic (?) one euro to one of the plaintiffs. However, the 6,000 euro fine has been suspended due to his constant apologies for his behavior, in the condition that he stay out of trouble in France for five years.
The actual trial was three months ago in June, where Galliano insists his controversial ramblings against the plaintiffs were all due to a disastrous cocktail of booze, Valium, and a lot of stress. Fortunately for the couple, as well as outraged people everywhere, hateful speech is considered a crime in France; therefore, igniting the news media to alert the world of the former Dior designer's less-than-gentlemanly actions. Aside from this incident, a woman then came forward claiming Galliano had given her the same treatment just the year prior to the one in February, even though she spoke up after the arrest.
Ironic that this his verdict has been confirmed right before the start of New York Fashion Week, beginning tonight with Fashion's Night Out. John Galliano was fired soon by Dior as their creative director after the embarrassing exposé of his actions. Natalie Portman, who is of Jewish descent as well as an ambassador for the brand, publicly expressed her disgust over the designer.
What do you think of about all of this? Do you think they were too easy on Galliano? Or perhaps, do you believe the charges against him were actually too harsh?
(Editor's note: Free speech is encouraged in the United States, but due to the overwhelming amount of cultures and differences here, the taboo subject of hate crimes and prejudice really should be the catalyst for us to adapt the French's law of persecuting racially prejudice speech. Declare it unconstitutional or not, we cannot make excuses for it anymore. Each individual's free thought cannot - and should not - be controlled, but the results of public hatred against others can be damaging and could possibly lead to events more severe.)
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