Designer John Galliano and The Metropolitan Museum of Art have mutually agreed to pull the plug on his planned Costume Institute exhibition.
The decision comes following severe backlash from donors, leaders, and city officials over Galliano’s past antisemitic and racist remarks. In a post, he wrote, “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… I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the museum have my full support. The decision immediately met public criticism.
The backlash: In mid-2026, the Met announced a major exhibition dedicated to Galliano’s career. Past controversy: In 2011, Galliano was fired as creative director of Dior and later convicted by a French court of hate crimes for making antisemitic and anti-Asian slurs at a Paris cafe. The cancellation: On August 31, 2026, Galliano released a statement withdrawing the exhibition.
Prominent donors threatened to pull funding, and political leaders argued that honouring Galliano sent the wrong message due to his past behaviour.
Taking full responsibility, Galliano shared on social media that he decided “with great sadness” to cancel the event so it wouldn’t distract from the museum’s work or cause pain to communities he previously harmed. Met Trustee Anna Wintour voiced support for his decision, calling it a “courageous” move, and said, “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.
