From the Company: ” Christian Dior has confirmed that John Galliano has been suspended from his role with the company pending investigation. Dior affirms with the utmost conviction its policy of zero tolerance towards any anti-Semitic or racist words or behaviour,” Dior chief executive Sidney Toledano said in a statement which we received this afternoon. Pending the results of the inquiry, Christian Dior has suspended John Galliano from his responsibilities.”
John Galliano has been arrested for an alleged assault, as well as alleged anti-Semitic remarks, reports on international news agency AFP suggest today – but all may not be as it seems. We spoke to someone this morning who was in the cafe at the time of the altercation – and her story suggests Galliano may not have been at fault.
“We had a table at La Perle and John Galliano sat next to us,” our eyewitness told us. “He spoke to a couple at a nearby table to say ‘Cheers’ and they insulted him. An argument started and the police came, so Galliano’s bodyguard suggested that they should go to the police station to sort it out. He wasn’t ‘busted’ aggressively by police, it was very quiet and peaceful. I definitely didn’t hear him say anything anti-Semitic, or against any religion, it was all very calm.”
Sources told AFP earlier this morning that the Christian Dior creative director was apprehended in Paris last night for assault, following an altercation in the city’s Marais district. He was reportedly released by police this morning. The designer was allegedly accused of verbally abusing a couple who were sitting on a cafe terrace – and was found to have been drinking alcohol when he was arrested.
“For the moment we don’t know what led him to address the couple,” the police source said.
A Christian Dior spokesperson said this morning that the label does not have any official comment as yet. See a full eyewitness interview on www.sleek-mag.com.