2027 by John Galliano Met Gala exhibition has been canceled due to continued resistance.
The controversial designer, 65, who made anti-Semitic and racist comments in a Paris cafe in 2011, shared the news via Instagram on Monday morning, explaining that it was “best that the exhibition should not take place at this time.”
“I am deeply grateful to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and especially to Max Hollein, Andrew Bolton and Anna Wintourfor the extraordinary honor of presenting an exhibition dedicated to my work,” his statement said.
“To have my creative journey considered by an institution I have admired all my life has touched me more deeply than I can express.”
“I will forever be grateful for the trust, care and knowledge that Max, Andrew, Anna and the entire Met team brought to this project,” the statement continued in part.
‘After much consideration and discussion with everyone involved, it is with great sadness that I have decided that it is best not to host the exhibition at this time.’
Galliano’s announcement came after rumors circulated of a feud between those involved in the fashion fundraiser.
Religious leaders are said to be outraged by the planned tribute to Galliano at the gala, per The New York Times.
John Galliano’s 2027 Met Gala exhibition has been canceled amid continued criticism. He was seen in 2010, a year before he was engulfed in scandal for a shocking anti-Semitic rant
The controversial designer, 65, who made anti-Semitic and racist comments in a Paris cafe in 2011, shared the news via Instagram on Monday morning, explaining that it was “best that the exhibition should not take place at this time.”
Patrons have also reportedly threatened to withdraw gifts.
In a statement via Vogue On Monday, Wintour praised the designer’s decision to postpone the exhibition as “courageous.”
“John’s decision to ask the Museum to postpone the exhibition of his work is very courageous and indicative of the man he is,” Wintour’s statement began in part.
“I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support. His tremendous imagination, fueled by a lifetime of curiosity and research, is matched by his exceptional craftsmanship,” her statement continued.
‘Cut, fit, the suggestive line of a dress with a bias cut, color: he is a master at it. If his technique were not equal to his storytelling talents, without one or the other he would not be the first couturier of his generations,” her statement said.
Wintour’s statement continued to praise the designer for his talent, as she said his “impact resonates across generations.”
In 2011, Galliano’s career imploded due to a filmed video of him in 2010 at the Parisian café La Perle, where he hurled insults at two women he thought were Jewish.
He later claimed he was so drunk he couldn’t remember the encounter.
“I am deeply grateful to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in particular Max Hollein, Andrew Bolton and Anna Wintour, for the extraordinary honor of presenting an exhibition dedicated to my work,” his statement said. He and Wintour are pictured together in 2021
In 2011, his career imploded over a video filmed in 2010 of him at the Parisian café La Perle, in which he insulted two women he thought were Jewish. It was seen in 2021
Galliano is pictured above alongside Kim Kardashian at the 2024 Met Gala, celebrating ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’
“I love Hitler,” he said as the women giggled. “People like you will be dead today. Your mothers, your ancestors would be fucking gassed and fucking dead.”
“Do you have a problem?” one of the women asked him from behind the camera, to which Galliano sneered: ‘With you? You’re ugly.’
When the images went viral, Galliano was inundated with a wave of public denunciations and was promptly kicked out of Dior.
He then apologized for “allowing me to behave in the worst possible light.”
Galliano was convicted in France in September 2011 of making racist and anti-Semitic comments during two separate outbursts in La Perle, after which his Legion of Honor was revoked and he was fired from his own self-styled brand.
In 2013, he found himself in hot water again when he surfaced in an outfit that resulted in accusations that he had dressed as a Hasidic Jew.
Galliano’s publicist Liz Rosenberg denied the allegations, stating that “John has worn big hats and long coats for many, many years” and that “the last thing on John’s mind would be to do anything that would offend the Jewish community.”
He spent years making amends, apologizing and collaborating with Jewish figures, and in 2014 he returned to the fashion world by becoming creative director of Maison Margiela.
The new theme for the Gala has not yet been announced. Host Wintour can be seen earlier this month
In his statement shared Monday, Galliano also said he “remains fully accountable” for the pain he has caused to both the Jewish and Asian communities in the past.
“I remain fully responsible for the pain my words have caused in the past, especially the pain I caused the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain sorry,” his statement continued.
“I understand that meaningful reconciliation is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture.
“It is an ongoing responsibility, evidenced by listening, learning and behavior over time.”
The designer also said he “recognized” and “respected” that the exhibition celebrating his work would be “painful for some.”
The theme was announced earlier this month.
In Wintour’s initial announcement of the exhibition, she emphasized that “his career is not defined by a moment” and that the “darkness in John’s past” would be addressed by the exhibition accompanying the event, via Vogue.
In addition to the controversy over the theme, the date of the gala also caused backlash.
The fashion fundraiser will take place on May 3, which is also Yom HaShoah, the Jewish day of Holocaust Remembrance.
The Met Gala serves as a fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Daily Mail in a statement after Galliano’s announcement: ‘With anti-Semitism at crisis levels, the Met honoring John Galliano at this time was misguided, and even Galliano ultimately recognized what the Met should have done from the start. This was the wrong move at the wrong time. Timing is important.’
The new theme for the Gala has not yet been announced.
