Metropolitan Museum of Art cancels exhibit on John Galliano following backlash over antisemitic comments

In 2011, Galliano was convicted of a hate crime in France after he went on a drunken antisemitic tirade against a couple at a bar in Paris.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday canceled its scheduled 2027 The Met Gala exhibit highlights British fashion designer John Galliano after facing backlash for honoring a designer with a history of making antisemitic comments.

The museum and fashion designer announced in a joint statement that the exhibit “John Galliano: Horizons,” previously scheduled to open in May 2027, will “not proceed as planned,” and information about a new spring Costume Institute exhibition and 2027 Met Gala will be announced at a later date.

“After much reflection and discussion with The Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano said.

“I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry for it. I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition, or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning, and one’s conduct over time.”

“I do not want the debate surrounding me to place The Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute. I also recognize and respect that an exhibition honoring my work would be painful for some,” added the former creative director of Christian Dior and Givenchy.

Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of The Met’s Costume Institute, said he supports the decision to cancel the exhibit.

“I believe deeply in the responsibility of museums to examine difficult histories with rigor, candor, and care. I also recognize the pain and concern this exhibition has caused,” he said.

Vogue‘s global editorial director and Met trustee Anna Wintour also commented on the cancellation of the exhibit.

“John’s decision that the exhibition devoted to his work should not take place at this time is very courageous and a measure of the man he is. I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support,” she noted.

The decision was praised by Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.

“With antisemitism at crisis levels, the Met honoring John Galliano at this moment was misguided, and even Galliano ultimately recognized what the Met should have done from the start,” he said.

“This was the wrong move at the wrong moment. Timing matters.”

It was announced in late July that the Met’s 2027 Costume Institute exhibition and Gala next year would highlight Galliano’s influence on fashion.

Since then, executives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue have been highly criticized for choosing to honor a designer who made antisemitic comments in the past.

The Met Gala always takes place the first Monday in May and many observers also found it concerning that the 2027 event would be held on May 3, which coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) on May 4.

The national day of commemoration in Israel will open with a ceremony held at Yad Vashem, the Jewish state’s national memorial to the Holocaust, on May 3.

“A second chance for John Galliano is one thing. Making him only the third living designer ever granted a solo retrospective at the Met Gala is not forgiveness. It is canonization. Scheduling its gala for Yom HaShoah is not merely appalling. It is obscene,” said Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation President and Director General Jack Simony in a statement on Sunday.

“Then again, perhaps the timing is perfect. Anna Wintour has always known what is in vogue. This year, it is antisemitism,” he added, referring to Vogue’s global editorial director and Met trustee Anna Wintour.

In 2011, Galliano was convicted of a hate crime in France after he went on a drunken antisemitic tirade against a couple at a bar in Paris.

He told the couple, a Jewish woman and her Asian boyfriend, “Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead” and “f–king Asian bastard, I will kill you.”

The incident resulted in him being fired from Dior. A video then surfaced that showed Galliano making antisemitic comments at the same bar while drunk in October 2010.

During the antisemitic rant, Galliano said, “I love Hitler,” and “People like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers, would be f–king gassed and f–king dead.”

Galliano has repeatedly apologized for his antisemitic remarks, blaming his actions on alcohol and drug addiction.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art had said the 2027 Costume Institute exhibition would “directly address the rupture caused by [Galliano’s] antisemitic, racist, and anti-Asian conduct in 2010 and 2011.”

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said last week the museum was making a “serious mistake” in honoring Galliano and that the designer’s antisemitic remarks “are not behavior that should be easily overlooked or normalized.”

“At a time when our city is confronting a serious rise in antisemitism, anti-Asian hate, and other forms of hatred, I find the decision to so prominently honor someone who has engaged in this behavior to be wholly inappropriate,” Menin stated.

“Our cultural institutions, particularly those that receive funding from the City of New York, have a responsibility to demonstrate that hatred and bigotry carry consequences. Words matter, and whom we choose to elevate is a direct statement of our values and what we are willing to tolerate.”

Galliano was set to be only the third living designer to receive a solo exhibit at The Met, following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in 2017.

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