Jean-Paul Guerlain: racist comments provoke protest

The 73 year old French perfumier Jean-Paul Guerlain's has sparked protest and possible legal action over his shocking racist language during a TV interview about his perfume range.

During an interview on French state TV last week he was asked about creating his new line and replied with:

"I worked like an n*****. I don't know if n***** have always worked like that, but anyway."

Guerlain’s remarks sparked a public protest outside his store on the Champs Elysées this weekend, with over a 100 demonstrators calling for a worldwide boycott of the perfume house and its owner, the luxury brand, Louis Vuitton-Moët Hennessy, because of the racist slur.

Patrick Lozès, of France's Representative Council of Black Associations, said the French word "nègre" used by Guerlain was an "extremely pejorative" and "racist" term equivalent to "n*****" in English. Lozès went on to comment that the blasé way that Guerlain used such words was indicative of the wider extent of racism in French society.

His words have been condemned by a French government minister and have attracted international concern. The civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton is due to visit France next week and is seeking a meeting with President Sarkozy to discuss Guerlain’s comments.