Overview
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art and John Galliano announced on Monday, August 31, 2026, that the nine-month spring 2027 retrospective of his four-decade career will not take place.
- Galliano posted that he accepts responsibility for the pain his past antisemitic remarks caused, named Jewish and Asian communities specifically, and said true atonement requires sustained action rather than a single institutional honor.
- Met leaders including director Max Hollein, Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton, and trustee Anna Wintour backed the decision after weeks of criticism from donors, elected officials and representatives of the Jewish community.
- The planned show would have gathered garments, sketches and archives and served as the Costume Institute’s spring focus and the Met Gala theme, so its cancellation affects the museum’s programming and fund-raising calendar for 2027.
- The Met said it will announce replacement Costume Institute programming and Met Gala arrangements in due course, a choice that underscores tensions museums face when weighing artistic recognition against community and donor concerns.