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The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City announced Monday that a show set to honor British designer John Galliano next year would no longer go forward as backlash grew over the 65-year-old’s past anti-Jewish and anti-Asian remarks.
Galliano’s work was set to be exhibited at next year’s Costume Institute spring show, which is launched by the Met Gala every May. But museum director Max Hollein announced that the institution and Galliano decided together not to proceed as anger grew over Galliano’s history of discriminatory remarks.
In 2011, Galliano was convicted of antisemitic abuse in France after berating a couple at a cafe in Paris. Galliano blamed the behavior on substance abuse, saying he was addicted to to alcohol, barbiturates and sleeping pills. He testified in court that he had no recollection of the antisemitic verbal abuse.
Amid the uproar of the trial, video of another rant surfaced, showing Galliano telling patrons at a cafe that he loved Adolf Hitler and that their family would have been “gassed.”
The incident brought to light other episodes from Galliano.
The New Yorker reported in 2011 that patrons of a Parisian bar recalled at least three unprovoked rants from Galliano that targeted Jewish and Asian communities.
The designer was fired from Dior, where he’d worked since the mid-90s, just before Paris Fashion Week that year and condemned his remarks. Galliano was ordered to pay a fine by the court.
Two years later he was brought in as a designer “in residence” at Oscar de la Renta. He was later hired as creative director for Maison Margiela until leaving for a collaboration with Spanish retail store Zara in 2024.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin called on the Met to reconsider the exhibition after it was announced last week. She posted a letter dated Wednesday to the museum saying that Galliano has not reached the higher standard that comes with such a “tremendous accolade.”
“The Met is one of New York City’s most treasured and visible cultural institutions,” Menin wrote. “Its choices carry enormous weight, both here and around the world. I believe this choice falls short of standard New Yorkers should expect from it.”
Menin referenced Galliano’s conviction in France, the video of him praising Hitler, and an allegation recently levied against him by fashion publicist Lauren London.
According to the New York Times, London alleged that Galliano repeatedly shouted “Merry Christmas” at her friend while she was speaking Hebrew on the phone in 2019 when they were at a spa in Italy. The friend, Sabine Cimber Goldberg, confirmed the incident to the Times.
Galliano said in a statement shared by the Met on Monday that he remains “deeply sorry” to Jewish and Asian communities for his past. He added that he did not want the debate surrounding him to detract from the work of the Costume Institute.
“I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture,” Galliano said. “It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time.”
Andrew Bolton, curator at The Met’s Costume Institute, added that he was supportive of the decision to cancel the exhibition and understood the pain it has caused.
Longtime Met Gala chair Anna Wintour said that it was the right decision, while also praising Galliano. A longtime supporter of Galliano, Wintour described the designer’s choice to pull out of the show as “very courageous and a measure of the man he is.”
In a post on X, Menin wrote that she was “pleased” with the decision not to proceed with the exhibition.
“As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and as the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, this decision was personal to me, and the Jewish community and I felt a strong obligation to speak out,” Menin wrote.
