French perfume designer Jean-Paul Guerlain was fined 6,000 euros ($8,000) Thursday by a Paris court for racist remarks he made during a French television interview. He was also ordered to pay 2,000 euros ($2,665 ) to each of three French anti-racism groups that brought the case.
— Read more at French parfumier Jean-Paul Guerlain fined over racist remarks at CNN; there is also a longer article at the Telegraph.
Please god let this be the last time JP soils his own nest. I genuinely feel badly for the ordinary people working at Guerlain (or Dior, for that matter) who get tarnished by hateful stuff when their bosses decide to let their inner bigots out for playtime. It’s just so disrespectful to absolutely everyone.
Just to be clear, he is no longer anybody’s boss at Guerlain since he is already retired. But I totally agree that I wish this to be the end of it.
Even though he is retired, though, there will no doubt be some guilt by association transferred to Guerlain (the company) because it has the family’s name, even if it is no longer family owned. The irony in this is that the continuing press coverage has probably done more harm than the initial comments. I am sure far more people have read the news articles than saw the actual interview.
Quite so, but I still don’t think it is necessarily going to have a long term impact for the Guerlain brand name. Whereas I think it is going to be hard for Galliano to ever make a killing in perfume now.
Rightly so for Galliano, his words were awful, just awful. No way would I buy anything of his, no way.
This also is disappointing..working like a what? Awful..how about just say I was working like a white business man? lol. Or just working hard. I haven’t bought anything from Guerlain yet..but now I am thinking not to..even if he’s retired..idk. I have friends that are African American..there’s plenty of racism going on these days, they will tell you.
I know I’m going to be unpopular for saying this, but I really hope Galliano does make a comeback. I love his flamboyant style and I can’t help but wonder what he’d be sending down the runways at Paris Fashion Week.
I’ll go a little bit further and say I empathize a bit with the guy. Not because I’ve ever said that I love Hitler or spouted racist remarks when drunk, but because I have mixed alcohol and medications before to disturbing results. Both times I forgot to take enough time after taking anti-biotics before consuming alcohol again. Both times, the majority of my evening out could not be recalled. Even now. One of those times my friend recorded me on her digital camera and I have to say, I have no idea who that person was that she showed me. But I was astonished and ashamed. So it is possible to actually be out of control of what you say and do. Scarily so.
As I said at the time, that particular comment was not racist (can’t go into the reasons why again). However, he apparently said something worse later on.
Anyway, what’s a ‘parfumier’ when it’s at home? There is no such word.
I noticed that both the British & the American press used that word. I don’t know why.
Not racist? According to your scientific system of testing such things?
Apparently, the people who actually have the authority to determine such things don’t agree. Too bad for you. Why defend it?
No problem with you disagreeing Joe, but let’s keep it friendly please!
According to my better knowledge of the French language.
That particular comment was not racist. A later one was.
How odd! It appears in France, advocacy groups can sue someone for a public statement and collect a fine in their favor.
Does anyone know if any of the more controversial commentators in this country get broad cast in France? If so, let’s form an advocacv group and collect big dough!
It is interesting, isn’t it? Reading the comments here on this incident (more from the prior 2 posts than this one) have seen a number of people say the French are less uptight about racist & generally “not politically correct” statements than the Americans, but of course in this country, you would never expect to see a remark like that prosecuted.
That is absolutely true.
Oh and another thing about Galliano..I mentioned I wouldn’t buy anything of his and a few, in my opinion, snooty perfumers responded..”I don’t care what he says, just as long as the juice smells good.” I am just like, what? Why? That rubs me the wrong way.
And that biography that came out not too long ago about Coco more than likely being a Nazi sympathiser..seems like quite a few perfumers are or were racist. Just not cool.
It seems artists of all types have had unsavoury views: I enjoy Eliot’s poetry and Wagner’s music whether or not they were anti-semitic. Being Jewish, however, I would not enjoy their anti-semitism!
‘People’ of all types have had – and still have – unsavoury views: artists are in the public eye, that’s all.
I am Jewish too and very sensitive about such things. As far as I’m concerned, Wagner and Ezra Pound are beyond the pale… others I can tolerate a bit more. There are ‘degrees’ of antisemitism.
The truth about Coco Chanel’s behaviour before and during the war has been known for a very long time in France. It didn’t come as a surprise.