(Reuters) French fashion house Christian Dior fired John Galliano on Tuesday after an online video clip circulated around the world showing its star designer shouting anti-Semitic abuse at people in a Paris bar.
Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, who was signed to promote a Dior perfume, said in New York that she was "deeply shocked and disgusted" by the video and no longer wanted to be associated with him.
Galliano, one of the world's most famous and long-lasting designers, was suspended by Dior on Friday, hours after a couple complained to police that he had shouted racist and anti-Semitic comments at them in a Paris bar.
A separate complaint was filed by another woman on Saturday for similar behavior from the British designer in October.
"I very firmly condemn what was said by John Galliano, which totally contradicts the values which have always been defended by Christian Dior," Christian Dior Chief Executive Sidney Toledano said in a statement.
Paris prosecutors are expected to decide by the end of the week whether Galliano will face trial over Thursday's incident in the trendy Marais neighborhood of Paris.
Galliano's dismissal comes on the first day of Paris Fashion Week and three days before his Dior show was due to run on Friday.
It was not clear whether the show would go ahead, although on Monday, the press office of John Galliano, the designer's own label, said his Sunday show was still on.
Dior is the leading fashion house at LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group.
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