John Galliano spends the day in court
Live blogs of the trial (which is moments away from wrapping up), report on Galliano’s statements that his dependence on substances was a consequence of increased workload at Dior and John Galliano, his namesake brand, following the economic collapse of 2008. “After every creative high,” he said, “I would crash and the alcohol helped me.”
Though the designer has apologized for “all the sadness this affair has caused,” he has yet to condemn the nature of his remarks. Though he says, “I have all my life fought against prejudice, having been subjected to it myself,” Galliano skirts the existence of video evidence that shows him enacting prejudice. Just like Galliano, I’m totally anti-prejudice; unlike Galliano, I’ve never professed my love for Hitler, even after a good number of drinks. [Telegraph, Styleite]
Spielberg fired Megan Fox for Hitler remarks
Believe it or not, today’s news features another public figure that lost their job thanks, in part, to an unfortunate reference to the architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler. Even though Megan Fox didn’t go as far as Galliano in expressing admiration for the mid-century German dictator, the latest accounts allege that the Transformers franchise executive producer, Steven Spielberg, had the actress fired after he heard that she’d compared the director, Michael Bay, to Hitler. Her laziness and bad attitude had already made her unpopular among the cast and crew, but the Hitler comment was the final straw. When Spielberg heard about it, he said to “fire her right now.” Oy. Look guys: please stop mentioning Hitler. Don’t even think about Hitler in relation to anything but the horrible tragedy of the Holocaust and the imperial narcissism of the Second World War. Remarks about Hitler (even if they aren’t anti-Semitic, but are just lazy and rash, like in Megan Fox’s case) just never go well. If you want to communicate that someone or something is brutal and oppressive, you should feel free to say: “He is brutal and oppressive,” or “God, he’s so Draconian.” Gets the message across, and isn’t going to anger anyone that feels that you’re being excessively flippant about the mass murder of millions of people. This would have worked even in John Galliano’s case. Instead of saying, “I love Hitler,” he could have said, “God, I feel sad and crazy and alone, like no one understands me, and it makes me so angry that I feel like I can relate to someone that would want to mass murder millions of people.” That would have been an admission of complete insanity rather then an expression of anti-Semitism, and he would have been rushed to a psych ward and treated instead of being forced to stand trial for public insult. [HollywoodDame, AmyGrindhouse]
Lauren Conrad doles out business advice to Forbes readers
Sigh. Look. It’s not that I have a ton of respect for high-powered businessmen. I wouldn’t compare them to Hitler, but I would say that I tend to stereotype them as relatively narrow-minded, self-involved individuals that are more preoccupied with attaining moneymoneymoney than love, or beauty, or truth. I know, I know, I’m totally bigoted against businessmen. BUT, as ungenerous as my views might be, I do think that they’re mostly serious people when it comes to anything related to their moneymoneymoney, and that makes them less susceptible to non-gadget bright shiny things, and more invested in legitimate accomplishment and achievement. Which is why I’m totally baffled to learn that reality starlet Lauren Conrad has landed a column for Forbes. I know that she’s built up an empire thanks to her NY Times bestselling book and her line of clothing, but she could probably dispense some good advice based on her experience in a single article. Is she really such a top entrepreneur that she needs to dispense advice on a weekly basis? No, there’s no way that this is a feature targeting Forbes’ regular readers. More likely, the business publication is hoping to bring in new readers. Conrad’s business advice column would probably appeal to single, twenty-something professional women that have on-track careers but aren’t at the top of their field, a market segment that’s particularly attractive to advertisers. The more I think about it, the more I think that offering appealing, accessible business advice to young women is actually a good idea, even if it comes from Lauren Conrad. [CelebDirtyLaundry]
2011 is apparently Leonardo DiCaprio’s Year of Love
Apparently it’s 1997 and Titanic‘s out in theaters and Leonardo DiCaprio is the most eligible movie hunk in all the land. After breaking up with his stunning Israeli supermodel girlfriend, Bar Rafaeli, Leo spent a few weeks running around the South of France, holding hands with Gossip Girl actress and fashion-plate Blake Lively, another stunner. Well, the Lively/Leo romance was very short-lived, apparently, because Mr. DiCaprio has now been spotted with a new blonde in New York City, Polish supermodel Anna Jagodzinska. Anna’s walked for Victoria’s Secret, her face has been plastered on the cover of American, Italian, Australian, Chinese, Portuguese, and German Vogue, and strutted the runway for heaps of fashion week designers. No big deal, right? After all these Leonardo-related romantic developments, I can’t get too interested in this latest fling: one week from today, we’ll all be like, Anna Jago-who?, when Leo finds a new girl. As it goes, I’m itching to know which blonde bombshell he’ll choose as his next victim. The way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marilyn Monroe herself rose from the grave and ran straight into Leo’s arms. [Starcasm]
Photo courtesy of News Pictures/WENN.com
