Groom who took viral photo wearing black, blue, white and gold dress pleads guilty to strangling his wife

The man whose photo of a dress caused a stir online in 2015 has pleaded guilty to strangling his wife.

Keir Johnston, 38, recently pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife Grace during an attack on March 6, 2022, People Magazine reported. He was previously known for posting a photo of a blue and black dress that struck some as white and gold.

From this day on, the world will be divided into two people. Blue and black or white and gold. pic.twitter.com/i6BwVzPzSZ

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) February 27, 2015

Johnston was charged following the incident in which he pushed his wife to the ground, sat on top of her and choked her. In that incident, he also threatened to kill her and brandished a knife. He reportedly told her: “Someone is going to die,” according to a May 9 statement to the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland, The Guardian reported.

Grace called for help and said, “My husband is trying to kill me.”

Crown prosecutor Chris Macintosh told the judge in the case that Grace had few options as the couple lived on the remote island of Colonsay.

“There is no constant police presence on the island and she found herself in a situation where she felt trapped,” Macintosh said, according to the Guardian.

The incident began after Johnston discovered that Grace had gone to a job interview on the mainland and had resisted his demands not to go. Johnston was reportedly drinking in a pub before the attack and texted his wife: “You should support me but you don't.”

Then he went home and passed out. When Grace returned to their home, “he woke up and said he was leaving her,” Macintosh told the court. “She went to the front of the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pushed her to the ground.”

“[Johnston] “She put both knees on her arms so she couldn’t move,” Macintosh added. “He then began strangling her with both hands. She was initially able to scream and feared for her life and believed that Johnston wanted to kill her as he was very forceful.”

Grace suffered several severe bruises from the attack but did not require medical treatment.

Johnston's defense lawyer Marco Guarino told the court his client had accepted responsibility for the attack, but judge Lady Drummond refused bail, saying: “I don't need to tell you it was a serious and violent one Misdemeanor acts.”

“They repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in what must have been absolutely horrific circumstances for her,” she added. “I am afraid Mr Johnston that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and will be remanded in custody in the meantime.”

Johnston is scheduled to be sentenced June 6.

Johnston and Grace rose to fame in 2015 after he posted a photo of a dress Grace's mother wanted to wear at her wedding. The photo posted online showed the dress in either black and blue or white and gold, depending on the viewer. Subsequent images of the dress showed it to be bright blue and black, but the original image fooled one man, including this reporter.

New York University neuroscientist Pascal Wallisch explained that people saw the dress differently because the brain processed assumptions based on the way the dress was lit.

“The original image was overexposed, making the lighting source unsafe,” Wallisch said. “So we make assumptions about how the dress was lit, which affects the colors we see.”

If one assumed the dress was photographed in the shadows, it might appear gold and white, while those who believed it was illuminated by artificial light saw it black and blue.

“This is a basic cognitive function: recognizing the color of an object requires taking into account the source of illumination, which the brain does continuously,” Wallisch added.