Overview
- Galliano announced on Monday that he would not go forward with “John Galliano: Horizons,” and the Met’s director Max Hollein confirmed the project is closed after discussions with the designer.
- The withdrawal follows a New York Times report and outspoken criticism from city officials and major donors who said the exhibition would appear to excuse or gloss over Galliano’s 2011 antisemitic and racist conduct.
- Curator Andrew Bolton and Anna Wintour had backed the show and planned to include a section confronting the 2011 episode, but that curatorial framing did not ease donor and municipal concerns about timing and optics.
- The cancellation forces the Met to rapidly choose a replacement Costume Institute program and a new honoree and theme for the May 2027 Met Gala, a major fundraiser that had been tied to the exhibition.
- Galliano said his decision reflects that true repentance is ongoing and cannot be achieved through a museum display, and his separate commercial collaboration with Zara remains scheduled to debut in October.