John Galliano Apologizes

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair.

Is John Galliano ready for a comeback? The designer speaks out for the first time since getting the boot from Dior after the notorious anti-semitic rant that caused his downfall in March 2011.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Galliano says he's not a racist nor an anti-Semite:

"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 with myself that I just said the most spiteful thing I could."

The designer reveals he struggled for years with drug abuse and a drinking problem until he checked himself into an Arizona rehab facility after the scandal. He admits that at the time, he had completely lost touch with reality:

"I lived in a bubble. I would be backstage and there would be a queue of five people to help me. One person would have a cigarette for me. The next person would have the lighter. I did not know how to use the A.T.M."

On his path to recovery, Galliano now says he's "grateful" for what happened:

"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."

Do you think Galliano deserves a second chance? Read a preview of the interview here and the full story in the July issue of Vanity Fair.