This past February Dior designer John Galliano had a few drinks at a Paris cafe and called Geraldine Bloch a “dirty Jew face” and an “ugly, disgusting whore,” saying she had “ugly eyebrows” and “cheap thigh boots,” and hurled anti-Asian slurs at her boyfriend before threatening to kill her. Dior fired Galliano and yesterday a French court slapped him with a “suspended fine” of €6,000 ($8,400) that will go on his criminal record, €16,500 ($23,200) in court fees paid to the eight complainants, and a symbolic €1 ($1.40) in damages to each one as well.
Ooooh. That symbolic dollar and forty cents must BURN! If we were one of the complainants, we’d be like, “We demand payment in wheat pennies and one JFK half-dollar.” Good luck finding those, sucka!
Galliano said he doesn’t even remember the incident as he was spaced out on glamour, job stress, alcohol, and Valium. He has since apologized, condemned racism, and gone to rehab where we will learn to love the Jews… and quite possibly, himself. (sniffle)
ewe
Disorderly persons offense at best. The restaurant could have booted him out for his mouth but for a government to say he cannot say what he said is so fucking dangerous.
ewe
Remember it was a nearby government that rounded up Jewish people not so long ago and France is now trying to make up for being acquiescent by fining people who speak against only certain groups of people. Free speech is obvioulsy not delegated equally in France. I hear French people tearing apart those who believe in Islam. And the government is becoming even more dangerous. The French have banned certain religious headgear and we’re not talking about a yamaka at an amusement park ride folks. No one progresses forward when governments switch victims.
Robert in NYC
ewe, anyone threatening the life of a political figure in the U.S. through hate speech can also be prosecuted. Incitement to commit a criminal offense of a violent nature isn’t protected by free speech. You can’t even shout “fire” in a theater and get away with it.
Little Kiwi
the percentage of the jewish communities that voted against Prop 8 was higher than that of any other demographic group.
werk!
Michael Lucas
He looks like a jew…a rich jew.
Shynook
@ewe: I basically love the French and France, but they do have a lot of anti-Semitism going on too, to be fair, ewe. I’m not sure why, because the Jews haven’t caused riots like the Muslims in France have. Etc. However, I am uncomfortable, too, with governments fining people for bad language (a drunken stoned fool talking like he was doesn’t equate to threats).
ewe
@Robert in NYC: I am not talking about the US or endangering anyones ability to continue living.
ewe
@Shynook: I know. If some soccer player was going off on gay people this would never have happened.
ewe
Will a Frenchman be able to speak out against Jacques Chirac without fear of being fined?
Shynook
@ewe: Actually, the same rules might apply to speech ostensibly aimed against gays, but don’t quote me on that because I don’t know the specifics of the law.
ewe
@Robert in NYC: are you saying John Galliano was putting someones life in danger? I am not sure what you meant.
ewe
He was sitting at a bistro table with his legs crossed and a clinking glass and a cigarette in his jeweled hands. I hardly think he was a threat to the general public.
Mike
My grandfather, as an American GI at the end of WWII, worked the trains coming in from the east.
He only admitted to seeing horror that would never leave his mind, but never spoke of the horrors themselves.
Vichy France collaborated with the Nazis. It is entirely appropriate that France now have a low/zero tolerance for anti-semitic hate speech.
Shynook
@Mike: I believe Germany still bans swastikas for similar reasons. To me it seems like an assault on free speech and free expression, but I can see why there are residual reasons for it.
Cam
@ewe: said…
“Disorderly persons offense at best. The restaurant could have booted him out for his mouth but for a government to say he cannot say what he said is so fucking dangerous.”
____________________________
Many other countries don’t have freedom of speech enshrined. In Britain you can be arrested for hate speech, in Germany you can be arrested for denying their WW2 past, in France, threatening to kill somebody because of their race or religion can get you arrested as in this case.
ewe
@Mike: Most Jewish people do not agree with you banning free speech.
ewe
@Cam: that’s true and over here i am simply saying that i think they are overreacting and full of double standards. There is a difference between free speech and behavior. One does not have to agree with what was said to defend the right to say it.
ewe
I wish Europe in general would deal with their rampant alcoholism. lol. there i said it.
BiM
@Shynook:
every time a football player say F*G, theres a general outcry here 🙂
moreover,if an illegal action is proved been against a specific minority (gay, jew, muslim, …) its considered as aggravating circumstances.
BiM
@Shynook:
every time a football player says F*G, there’s a general outcry here 🙂
generally speaking, if an illegal action aims a specific minority (gay, jewish, muslim, …), that’s considered as aggravating circumstances.
Adonis-of-Fire
I suppose there’s no such thing as freedom of speech in France.
matt polk
someone bring hitler back and cook this fag in an oven for christ sake
ewe
@matt polk: what a dreadful thing to say matt polk.
Sean
I totally agree with ewe. It’s very dangerous. Even though this happened in Europe where they don’t enjoy the Constitutional right to freedom of speech, do we really want to live in a world where the government can bring you to court and fine you for expressing your opinion? What if Galiano had hurled abusive anti-Catholic language towards a Catholic priest and nun about the sex abuse scandal? Would he have been fired from his job for that? Would he be brought to court and fined? Who gets the final say on what opinions are “hateful” and which aren’t
Shynook
@Sean: I agree on that one too. Despite WWII and everything related, I think France and other countries have to review those laws. But I’m sure they are considered controversial there already, and constantly debated. Aside from all that, as for Galliano, I’m not excusing him, but I bet he really doesn’t remember the incident as he claims. I remember the clip, and he sure seemed totally wasted to me.
ewe
@Sean: exactly.