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John Galliano makes public apology on American TV show

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John Galliano appeared on TV to apologise publicly for the anti-semitic outbursts which led to him being dismissed from the house of Dior. John, 50, who worked as artistic director and chief designer at one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior, said sorry in a candid interview with US talk show presenter Charlie Rose, which was aired on Bloomberg TV on Thursday night. "I apologize. And I am trying to make amends in the best way that I can…I cannot ask for forgiveness, it has to be bestowed on me by the people if they think I deserve it…" said the British fashion designer in his first public interview since the incident.

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"I'm ready to create. I'm able to create. I'm feeling good again. I hope through my atonement I will be given a second chance. A second chance…"The apologetic fashion maestro was far from the extrovert personality we had been used to, appearing sombre and serious in a simple pale blue shirt and navy jacket, free from his characteristic moustache and with his hair scraped back into a tight ponytail. Sitting across a wooden table from the television interviewer, John, who at one point was one of the world's foremost designers until his career was shattered by his outburst – for which the French courts found him guilty on charges of 'public insults' – opened up about his addiction to drink and drunks as well as the pressures of the fashion industry.

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"The drinking did creep up on me very slowly. It started cyclically. After each collection, after each creative high, there'd be this crash. And then were these – I used the drink to stop the voices," the designer said. "I was very sad…I was acting like God." He also expressed empathy for the legendary designer Alexander McQueen, who committed suicide at the height of his career in 2010. "I understood that loneliness, that pain… I mean, as addicts, we're in such perfection. We're setting that bar impossibly high. "You're only as good as your last collection, which is an enormous pressure," explained the repentant designer.

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