Scandalous- John Galliano Fights Back & Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Brawling Couple

Galliano’s lawyer Stephane Zerbib spoke to WWD today in an effort to set the record straight. According to Zerbib, the reason Galliano went to the police station Thursday night was to provide witness statements supporting his story. One of those witnesses was Galliano’s driver.

He has subsequently filed a defamation and injury claim against Géraldine Bloch and Philippe Virgiti, the couple he is accused of assaulting. In addition, the designer is not pleased Dior suspended him. Says Zerbib: “He is not guilty and is not embroiled in a court case or anything. He feels it is a decision that has been made without verification of the facts and based on one side of the story and he is very shocked about that.”
Dolce & Gabbana designer Stefano Gabbana posted on his Twitter account, “I’m so sorry for John Galliano!!”


There is still no word on whether or not Galliano’s March 4th Dior show will go on as planned.
Le Figaro gained access to the police reports filed on that night -- the couple who first accused Galliano of making the remarks is named as Geraldine Bloch, 35, and Philippe Virgiti, 41. The incident started around 9 p.m. at La Perle in Paris' Third Arrondissement. Galliano allegedly yelled (based on our translation) "Dirty jewish face, you should be dead!" and "Fucking Asian bastard, I will kill you!" to Virgiti, who is of Asian descent.

There was also some hair pulling. There is no reason given as to why it all began. The female victim spoke with Europe1 on Friday, although she requested to remain anonymous. She recounted:"I was sitting with a friend and the table next to us was open. A bizarre guy sat down, ordered a mojito and started to tell me I was a bitch. At the beginning it was just 'dirty bitch,'" and after the anti-Semitic and racist insults. "We couldn't get rid of him, he was a friend of the owner," and the people around her had to tell her, "That's a star, that's John Galliano." "I'm not Jewish but in this case, I feel a solidarity with an Arab person and a Jewish person."


There are a handful of witnesses who say they never heard the anti-Semitic remarks at all. AndThe Cut writes:We spoke with a source today who has worked closely with Galliano on several projects and "can't imagine he would do this to anyone." He added, "I'm an observant Jew, and I know from my own experiences with him that there's no way he hates Jewish people. He's incredibly gentle."

Mr. Galliano's lawyer, Stephane Zerbib also confirmed that Galliano's chauffeur, who was present at the café during the incident, is a key witness and has confirmed to police that the designer's account of events is correct.


Fashionwiredaily.com's Godfrey Deeny who has drunk at the same bar on several occasions, said "My experience is, he's a very tolerant, easy guy. I haven't heard any evidence to the contrary. If someone's made an anti-Semitic remark, that's completely wrong, but that's an 'if' I don't know the answer to."

Dior’s fashion show is scheduled for Friday.  It is unclear whether Galliano will take his catwalk bow. Yesterday,  Mr. Zerbib said the designer would be on the catwalk “like always.”