British designer John Galliano was convicted on Thursday in a Parisian court on two counts of public insult based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity, based on two separate incidents at a Paris cafe in February. The court fined Galliano a total of 6,000 euros (about $8,340) for the offenses. The maximum penalty is 20,000 euros (about $28,000). The court pointed out that the relatively light punishment took into account the sincere public apology Galliano made for his comments, as well as his professional history over the course of many years based on the principles of tolerance. Galliano himself was not present at the reading of the verdict, but afterward his lawyer said, Galliano wants to communicate again, through me, his sincerest apologies. He is aware that he acted in error and caused an uproar. The attorney also saidt Galliano was in treatment for drug and alcohol addiction and that he hopes that people appreciate his work and will forgive and understand him. In the first incident, Galliano verbally attacked a couple sitting near him, calling the woman a Jewish whore. A video of another incident at the same cafe soon afterward shows Galliano saying, I love Hitler. People like you need to die by gassing, as your forefathers did.
In March, fashion house Christian Dior fired Galliano, who had worked for the company for 15 years, after a video surfaced online showing him making anti-Semitic comments and slurs.
