French parfumier Jean-Paul Guerlain fined over racist remarks

[The Northerner]

Last edited Thu Mar 29, 2012, 03:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Paris (CNN) -- French perfume designer Jean-Paul Guerlain was fined 6,000 euros ($8,000) on 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.

Guerlain was found guilty before Judge Anne Marie Sauteraud of making a racial insult, under a law dating back more than a century.

Guerlain -- who is no longer connected with the company that bears his name -- uttered a racial slur twice during an October 2010 interview on France 2 about his career and the making of the Samsara perfume.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/29/world/europe/france-guerlain-racism-ruling/


If only racist remarks were punished with fines here in the US then I'm certain we'd have much less racism today.

[Justpat]

1. So in France no amount of perfume can cover the stink of racism.

I like that.

[gateley]

3. And I like your comment! nt

[gateley]

2. John Galliano (another designer I can't afford) also got in trouble for this.

What's with those guys?

[Cleita]

5. Weird because many of them are gay and a minority that

also gets beaten up on by so-called straight people.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. This guy is a 4th generation heir to his family fragrance company....

How do you think they work it out so that the whole family is gay for such a long period of time? Just wondering. Considering the man's sexuality is not part of the story, and that presuming a person's sexuality due to their occupation is not a choice I make in life, personally, I had to ask.

[Cleita]

8. I neither know nor care if he is gay and actually was referring to the dress designer

the poster mention, whom I also don't care whether he is gay or not. However, I was generalizing that a majority of men in the fashion industry are gay. You only have to watch Project Runway to see that, although the most recent winner was a married man with children, the majority are gay. These fellows though, who work in the fashion and cosmetic industry even if they are straight are working with a lot of gay men so surely they are sensitive to them and therefore should be more broadly sensitive to race and other minorities.

[Cleita]

4. "If only racist remarks were punished with fines here in the US then I'm certainly we'd have

much less racism today."

I disagree. It would just go underground. Also, this is thought police tactics and I don't care for the totalitarian nature of it. The way to deal with racism is education and laws that enforce minority rights, representation and equality in the system especially with our public servants like the police.

[bart95]

6. when was the last time you heard someone openly make a racist remark without consequences?

and just who do you think is making these remarks?

can you give a description of the type of person doing it?

we could help you if you gave us a little more information

[cali]

9. I'm NOT with you. The French laws are an affront to speech

Here's what Guerlain was convicted of saying:

"I worked like a negro" (in reference to developing a perfume)

Was it stupid? Yes. Insensitive? Of course. Reflective of hate? I don't see it.

He's 75 years old. He apologized profusely. Under the law he could have been sentenced to Prison.

I mean really. Who the fuck decided that this was something that should be prosecuted?

I think the law is far more dangerous than what this guy said or what the other fashion designer said.

[Cleita]

10. I agree. This was a poor choice of words. There is too much thought police in this.

The French who were under the thumb of the Nazis for a while in the last century should know better.

[cali]

11. you know, I think a good part of why they have laws like this is because

of what did happen in France under the Nazi occupation. I suppose the thinking is that such laws prevent the demonizing of any ethnic group. But it's so absurd. You can stir up hate against a group within the law. Witness Marine LePen and Sarkozy.

It doesn't work and it can be used to silence people.