Disgraced former Christian Dior designer John Galliano has been found guilty by a court of hate speech stemming from incidents at a Paris café in which he hurled anti-Semitic insults at patrons.
The Paris court found him guilty of “public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity” stemming from two separate incidents at the bar.
Galliano (50), who was not in court, was fined a total of €6,000. The fines were suspended. He was also ordered to pay damages of €1 each to the three victims he verbally assaulted and €3,000 each for their legal fees.
Galliano testified that he had been under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs and could not recall the incidents in question. He said he was sorry “for the sadness that this whole affair has caused”.
However, Judge Anne-Marie Sauteraud ruled that he had "a sufficient knowledge of his actions" despite his addictions to drugs and alcohol.
The British designer lost his job as creative director at Dior, as well as his stake in a franchise named after him, after the scandal broke earlier this year.
He was caught on video abusing people at a Paris bar saying “people like you would be dead” and that “your mothers, your forefathers” would all be “gassed.”
He also said: “I love Hitler.”