Galliano Cancels Met Exhibition After Antisemitism Backlash — SkimNews
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- John Galliano announced Monday he is withdrawing from the Met's planned "Horizons" exhibition, originally set for May 2027, saying "meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition"
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art had announced the exhibition, which was also slated to provide the theme for the May 3, 2027 Met Gala — a date that coincides with Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day
- Galliano was fired from Dior in 2011 and convicted in a Paris court of making antisemitic remarks to a Jewish curator, hurling racist insults at her South Asian friend, and separately declaring love for Hitler
- ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called the planned tribute "misguided" with antisemitism at "crisis levels," while NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin said honoring Galliano served as "a gut punch to the Jewish community"
- Anna Wintour, Vogue global editorial director and Met trustee, praised Galliano's call to cancel as "very courageous" and said both he and the Museum have her "full support"
- Galliano cited his "15 years of sobriety and recovery from alcoholism and addiction" in his Monday statement, having returned to fashion as creative director of Margiela from 2014 to 2024
Why it matters: By pulling the show, Galliano sidesteps a confrontation with Yom HaShoah on May 3, 2027, when the themed Met Gala would have collided with Holocaust Remembrance Day — a conflict the ADL and a NYC Council speaker had publicly pressed the Met to avoid. The cancellation hands the Met a reputational reset with Jewish advocacy groups but underscores how rehabilitation arcs in fashion remain exposed to organized opposition during periods of rising antisemitism.
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