Fashion house Christian Dior has fired chief designer John Galliano this afternoon following an antisemitic outburst at a Paris bar. Yesterday, The Sun posted footage of a different barroom tirade, in which a visibly intoxicated Galliano says "I love Hitler!", adding " "People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be fucking gassed."

Dior initially only suspended Galliano last Friday, before footage of the second incident emerged. This decision was met with sharp criticism by Natalie Portman, who signed a lucrative deal last summer to be the spokesperson for Dior's line of perfumes. "I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano’s comments that surfaced today," Portman said in a prepared statement released Monday. "In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way." As an added twist of the knife, Portman passed on Dior and wore a Rodarte dress to Sunday's Oscars.

This isn't the first time the fashion house has demonstrated an embarrassing lack of cultural sensitivity. In August, the company's "Shanghai Dreamers" ad campaign was accused of "orientalism" for depicting Chinese models in monochromatic, Cultural Revolution-style garb. Despite the outcry, the campaign was not pulled.

Galliano joined Dior in 1996, ushering in an era of sustained growth and profitability within the fashion house.

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Ray Gustini