Galliano to Stand Trial for Slurs

He's obviously going through 'a difficult time,' says Giorgio Armani

(NEWSER) - Friends tell the New York Times that former Dior designer John Galliano is entering rehab after news of his apparently drunk , anti-Semitic rants emerged. Galliano, while still denying the claims against him, says he understands "that the accusations made against me have greatly shocked and upset people" and that he "unreservedly" apologizes, the AP reports. Meanwhile, some of his colleagues are coming out of the woodwork to support him:

• Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field posted a note titled "In Praise of John Galliano" on her blog , and sent it out to 500 friends, media outlets, and other blogs. She tells Women's Wear Daily Galliano was "acting out a character": "John lives in theater. It’s theater. It’s farce. But people in fashion don’t recognize the farce in it. All of a sudden they don’t know him. But it’s OK when it’s Mel Brooks’ The Producers singing 'Springtime for Hitler.'”

Fashion designer faces assault charges

(NEWSER) - Fashion designer John Galliano was arrested last night after allegedly going on an anti-Semitic rant and attacking a couple at a French cafe. Galliano, the chief designer at Christian Dior since 1996, was believed to have had a lot to drink at a bar in Paris's Marais district, known as the home of the Jewish community, before going off the rails. "Witnesses said he swore heavily, using anti-Jewish insults, before attacking a couple," a police source tells the Telegraph . Christian Dior suspended Galliano pending the outcome of the investigation, which could spell trouble for the fashion house's March 4 show. More»

Designer handed a suspended sentence

(NEWSER) - He managed to escape the six months in jail he was facing, but John Galliano didn't manage to escape a guilty verdict. A Paris court today convicted the former Christian Dior designer for making "public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race, or ethnicity." He was given a suspended sentence of $8,400 in fines, though he will not have to pay it, reports the AP . Galliano blamed the incidents , which he said he couldn't recall, on booze and drugs. (In related news, it looks like he still has one fan ...) More»

Booted fashion whiz testifies today in Paris

(NEWSER) - Fashion whiz John Galliano will blame drugs and claim amnesia today at his Paris trial for an anti-Semitic tirade against a Jewish customer in a local bar. The axed Dior creative director had a "triple addiction to alcohol, Valium, and sleeping pills," his attorney told Reuters . “The combined effect of these drugs is a state of complete and utter abandon." Galliano, 50, was "baffled" when he saw video of himself last year praising Hitler and blasting invectives at a museum curator sitting next to him in the bar, said the lawyer. More»

Anti-Semitic remarks caught on video did him in

(NEWSER) - John Galliano is officially out at Christian Dior after a video surfaced of the designer making anti-Semitic remarks. Dior had previously suspended Galliano , after a couple accused him of making anti-Semitic comments and he was arrested for assault, but the fashion house said today it is firing him, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company says the "odious behavior and comments" on display in the recently released video clip, in which Galliano says "I love Hitler," spurred the initiation of firing procedures. More»