‘Correct decision’ by Met to cancel exhibit honoring British designer with history of Jew-hatred, Menin says

After a backlash, including from the New York City Council, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a private, encyclopedic museum, canceled a planned May 2027 exhibit honoring British fashion designer John Galliano, who said “I love Hitler” in 2010, which prompted Dior to fire him in 2011, the same year that he was convicted of criminal charges in France.

“Following thoughtful discussions with John Galliano, we have together decided not to proceed with the exhibition,” stated Max Hollein, director and CEO of the Met, on Monday.

“John Galliano: Horizons” was to form the basis of next year’s Met Gala. The museum said that it would announce plans for a new Costume Institute exhibit and the 2027 gala at a later date.

Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, stated on Monday that “after my numerous and lengthy meetings and conversations with the Met, I am pleased that they have agreed to not honor John Galliano.”

“From the beginning, I have told them that I strongly disagreed with this decision, and at this rising time of antisemitism, it had served as a gut punch to the Jewish community,” she said. “This is the correct decision, as the harm and pain this was causing was simply unacceptable.”

In an Aug. 28 letter to museum leaders, Menin warned that the decision to honor Galliano was a “serious mistake” and said that his “long public record of antisemitism, racism and anti-Asian bigotry is deeply troubling.”

“At a time when our city is confronting a serious rise in antisemitism, anti-Asian hate, and other forms of hatred, I find the decision to so prominently honor someone who has engaged in this behavior to be wholly inappropriate,” she wrote.

The decision “should have been more thoroughly investigated,” she wrote in the letter. “The Met is one of New York City’s most treasured and visible cultural institutions. I believe this choice falls short of the standard New Yorkers should expect from it.”

As of April 23, 2025, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was slated to receive $29.7 million in allocations from New York City in 2026, according to the city. The museum began charging an admission fee—currently $30 for adults—on March 1, 2018, after having previously recommended that visitors pay “what you wish.” New York state residents can still pay whatever they want, per the museum site.

Dior fired Galliano in 2011 after a video surfaced, in which he said, “I love Hitler,” and told people at a Paris bar that their ancestors “would all be f***ing gassed” in the Holocaust.

He was also filmed insulting a woman’s “ugly Jewish face” and telling the man with her, “f***ing Asian bastard, I will kill you.”

He was convicted in France of making public insults based on religion, race or ethnicity and received suspended fines totaling about $8,000.

Galliano has since apologized and said that he was struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction at the time.

The Anti-Defamation League defended his rehabilitation in 2013 and stated that he had “worked arduously in changing his worldview and dedicated a significant amount of time to researching, reading and learning about the evils of antisemitism and bigotry.”

On Monday, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL, stated that “with antisemitism at crisis levels, the Met honoring John Galliano at this moment was misguided, and even Galliano ultimately recognized what the Met should have done from the start.”

“This was the wrong move at the wrong moment,” Greenblatt stated. “Timing matters.”

Anna Wintour, global editorial director of Vogue and longtime chair of the Met Gala, said that the decision not to proceed was Galliano’s.

“John’s decision that the exhibition devoted to his work should not take place at this time is very courageous and a measure of the man he is,” she stated. “I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the museum have my full support.”

Galliano stated on social media that “after much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time.”

“I do not want the debate surrounding me to place the Met in a difficult position or distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute,” he wrote. “I also recognize and respect that an exhibition honoring my work would be painful for some.”

“I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry,” he wrote.

The Met announced the Galliano exhibit on July 31. The show was to examine his four-decade career while addressing the conduct that led to his downfall. Galliano would have reportedly been one of only a handful of living designers to receive a solo Costume Institute show.

Andrew Bolton, the Costume Institute curator who was organizing the exhibit, stated that he believes “deeply in the responsibility of museums to examine difficult histories with rigor, candor and care.”

“I also recognize the pain and concern this exhibition has caused,” Bolton stated. “After extensive discussion, I support the decision not to proceed.”

“Museums such as the Met must be held to a high standard of inclusiveness and tolerance, and I am pleased that they have listened to the concerns I have raised and reacted with the right decision,” stated Menin, the City Council speaker.

“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,” she said.

Get the latest updates in our WhatsApp group.