The Metropolitan Museum of Art will not stage its planned John Galliano retrospective, the museum and the designer announced jointly on Monday, August 31st. “John Galliano: Horizons,” scheduled to open in May 2027 as the Costume Institute’s spring show, has been called off after months of mounting criticism over Galliano’s history of antisemitic and racist remarks.
“Following thoughtful discussions with John Galliano, we have together decided not to proceed with the exhibition,” said Max Hollein, the Met’s director and CEO, in a statement. The museum said it will announce a new spring exhibition and details of the 2027 Met Gala at a later date. This year’s show, “Costume Art,” opened in May and runs through January 10, 2027.
Galliano said he had made the decision “with great sadness.” “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 for it,” he said. “I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture.” The 2027 gala, held as always on the first Monday in May, would have fallen on Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust remembrance day.
He added that he did not want the debate around him “to place The Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute,” and that he recognized an exhibition honoring his work “would be painful for some.”
Dior dismissed Galliano in 2011 after video surfaced of the designer making antisemitic remarks, including “I love Hitler,” at a Paris café. A French court later convicted him of public insults based on origin, religion, race, or ethnicity. He apologized, entered rehab, and returned as creative director of Maison Margiela from 2014 to 2024. He has spoken publicly about his recovery from alcoholism and addiction.
Opposition has built since the museum announced the show in July. The New York Times reported last week that several donors had warned they would pull promised gifts, among them Arne Glimcher, founder of Pace Gallery. In an email to Met curator David Breslin quoted by the Times, Glimcher wrote: “I don’t think you have considered the cost of this action and its reverberations to come.” Critics also included Julie Menin, speaker of New York’s City Council, who called the exhibition “a serious mistake” in a letter to the exhibition’s organizers.
