Overview
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art and John Galliano said late Monday that they had decided not to proceed with the planned 2027 Costume Institute retrospective titled “John Galliano: Horizons.”
- Galliano issued a statement taking responsibility for his past antisemitic and racist remarks, apologizing to Jewish and Asian communities and saying he did not want the controversy to distract the museum.
- The withdrawal followed weeks of sustained public criticism, vocal objections from New York officials including City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and reports that major donors and trustees threatened to withhold support.
- Critics also flagged the proposed timing of the gala, which fell on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), and said an institutional honor would be painful given Galliano’s 2010–11 convictions for racist and antisemitic insults.
- The Met confirmed it will develop a completely new spring 2027 exhibition and Met Gala theme, a decision that raises financial and programming challenges for the Costume Institute and restarts debates about how museums balance artistic achievement with community accountability.