March 3rd, 2011 
Gabriella Gurner 
FRENCH fashion house Christian Dior has fired its chief designer, John Galliano, for “odious behaviour” after a video surfaced of him insulting cafe patrons and declaring “I love Hitler”.
The British designer had already been suspended by the historic firm last week after he was arrested and questioned by French police over allegations he subjected a couple to a drunken, antisemitic tirade.
Dior announced it was beginning procedures for his dismissal after a video of an earlier incident in the same Paris cafe, in which he launched a similar rant, was released by British newspaper The Sun.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the things said by John Galliano, which are in complete opposition to the essential values that have always been defended by the Christian Dior house,” said managing director Sidney Toledano.
Dior described the behaviour and language of the 50-year-old designer in the amateur video as “particularly odious” and said he would be dismissed from his high-profile job in short order.
In a further blow to the fashion house’s image, Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, who is Jewish and the face of a Dior perfume, said she was “deeply shocked and disgusted” and wanted nothing to do with Galliano.
“In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr Galliano in any way,” she said.
Portman, who has an endorsement contract with Dior for its Miss Dior Cherie perfume and appears in the firm’s advertising, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Black Swan.
Galliano’s outfits are a favourite with a host of A-list celebrities. Sharon Stone and Nicole Kidman wore Dior dresses to the Oscars this week, while Gisele Bundchen, Emily Blunt, Gwen Stefani and Penelope Cruz are just some of the famous faces who have walked down the aisle in his creations.
The British designer is also said to be at work on Kate Moss’ wedding dress for upcoming wedding to rocker Jamie Hince later this year.
News of the sacking overshadowed this week’s start of Paris Fashion Week, the high point of the international women’s wear calendar, and came as French prosecutors decided whether to charge Galliano with antisemitism.
Dior’s press office said that Dior’s catwalk show, scheduled for Saturday in the city’s Rodin Museum, had not been cancelled “for the moment”.
A judicial official said prosecutors expect to announce imminently whether any charges would emerge from their inquiry.
“Either the probe will lead to prosecutions or it won’t, but we’ll soon know,” he said.
Police have interviewed Galliano and his accusers: a couple who allege he insulted and threatened them last week in La Perle, a cafe in Paris’ fashionable Marais district, and a woman who said he abused her last year.
While other witnesses have confirmed that the couple had a fierce dispute with Galliano in La Perle on Friday, no independent source is thought to have confirmed that he used antisemitic language.
But his defence has been weakened – at least in terms of public opinion if not judicially – by a video published on the internet by The Sun in which he is seen abusing another couple, again in La Perle.
“I love Hitler,” a visibly drunk Galliano declares. “People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be f***ing gassed.”
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