John Galliano withdraws from 2027 Met Gala amid backlash

John Galliano has pulled out of next year's Met Gala following backlash.

In late July, officials at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that Galliano would be the third living fashion designer to be honoured with a retrospective Costume Institute exhibition, following Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo.

To accompany the John Galliano: Horizons exhibit, the Met Gala theme was set to recognise the former Dior and Givenchy designer too.

The news sparked uproar online due to Galliano's past antisemitic remarks, and on Monday, both Galliano and Max Hollein, the museum's director and CEO, announced the exhibition would no longer go ahead.

"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," the British designer wrote on Instagram.

"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 continued. "I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one's conduct over time."

Galliano, 65, explained that he doesn't want the backlash to put museum officials "in a difficult position" or distract from the Costume Institute's "remarkable work".

"I also recognise and respect that an exhibition honouring my work would be painful for some," he added.

He noted that he has been sober and in "recovery from alcoholism and addiction" since 2011, the year he was fired as creative director of Dior, following the publication of a video of a drunken Galliano saying antisemitic remarks to a couple in a Paris cafe in late 2010.

"My gratitude to the Met, Max, Andrew (Bolton, the Costume Institute's curator) and Anna (Wintour) remains profound and enduring," he concluded. "Their generosity, humanity and belief in the importance of fashion as art, culture and history - as well as their understanding of human fragility and the possibility of growth - will remain with me always."

Wintour, the Met Gala's lead chairperson, said in a statement that Galliano and museum officials made "the right decision" and have her "full support". She also praised the designer's courage and dubbed him "the premiere couturier of his generation (sic)".

The 2027 Met Gala and exhibition are currently without a theme. The bash is typically held on the first Monday in May.

Following his fall from grace, Galliano returned to fashion as the creative director of Maison Margiela in 2014. He left the company in 2024 and is currently in a partnership with the high-street brand Zara.