John Galliano spoke for the first time since his sack from the house of Dior two years ago. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the 52-year-old British fashion designer said he was so dependent on alcohol and prescription pills that he feared he would "end up in a mental asylum or six feet under". Galliano also shockingly revealed that he didn't even know how to use an ATM.

John Galliano/REUTERS
John Galliano/REUTERS

He was fired over his "I love Hitler" comments made in a Paris bar in 2011. The same year, he was arrested for allegedly attacking a couple in Paris and using anti-Jewish insults. He had reportedly told them, "People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be f****** gassed".

Galliano, who was fined £5,200 by a French court, was filmed on a mobile phone while making these comments. He was later checked into an Arizona rehab clinic.

"It's the worst thing I have said in my life, but I didn't mean it... I have been trying to find out why that anger was directed at this race. I now realize I was so fucking angry and so discontent[ed] with myself that I just said the most spiteful thing I could", Galliano said.
He also added that he does not hate Jews and that his drinking and drug abuse were to blame for his behaviour.

Galliano asserts that over the last two years he has stayed sober, met with Jewish community leaders and is now even grateful the episode happened, as he feels he is in a better place in his life.

"It sounds a bit bizarre, but I am so grateful for what did happen. I have learned so much about myself. I have re-discovered that little boy who had the hunger to create, which I think I had lost. I am alive," Galliano added.

Arizona