Overview
- The Met and John Galliano announced on Monday that the planned 2027 Costume Institute exhibition 'John Galliano: Horizons' will not proceed as scheduled.
- The reversal followed growing objections from Jewish leaders, city officials and major patrons who warned they might withdraw support, and concern that the Met Gala date overlaps at sundown with Yom HaShoah.
- Galliano issued a statement accepting responsibility for his past antisemitic and racist remarks and saying an institutional exhibition was not the appropriate form of repair at this time.
- The museum said it made the decision jointly with Galliano and called his choice brave, but now faces an urgent task to find a replacement spring show or an alternate plan for the 2027 Gala, with options reported to include accelerating a ready exhibition, using the Costume Institute’s own collection, or canceling the event.
- The episode raises wider questions about how museums balance accountability and artistic rehabilitation, highlights donors’ financial leverage over institutional decisions, and comes as Galliano continues other work including a planned collaboration with Zara.