The Metropolitan Museum of Art is scrapping a gala exhibit that had been planned for next May to honor the fashion designer John Galliano, according to Eyewitness News ABC7NY, which reported the development as breaking news. The broadcaster said the museum had just announced it was dropping the exhibit that was to have been built around the designer, marking a reversal of its earlier plan for one of the fashion world's most closely watched events.
According to ABC7NY, the exhibit had been set to honor Galliano, whom the broadcaster described as a prolific designer but also a very controversial figure. The report said the Met Gala, the high-profile event tied to the planned exhibit, is making the change after receiving a lot of pushback to what had been scheduled for next May, prompting the museum to rethink the way it had intended to spotlight the designer.
At the center of the controversy is the designer's past. According to Eyewitness News, Galliano was convicted in 2011 of an anti-Semitic hate crime, and it was that history that drove the objections to featuring him at the museum's marquee fashion event. The broadcaster framed the conviction as the key reason the initial plan to honor him had become a flashpoint.
The report said the opposition to the plan had been building on more than one front. According to ABC7NY, the museum's decision came amid increasing backlash both in New York and abroad, indicating that the pressure over the choice to honor Galliano extended beyond the city and reached audiences internationally before the Met moved to change course.
Among those who pushed the Met to reverse the decision was Julie Menin, according to Eyewitness News. The broadcaster reported that she was one of the people calling on the museum to make a change, and described the initial decision to honor Galliano as a gut punch to the Jewish community, a phrase the report attributed to her in urging the institution to reconsider.
Galliano himself responded to the reversal. In a statement cited by ABC7NY, the designer said he is grateful to the Met for the honor but remains accountable for the pain caused by his actions. According to the broadcaster, he added that he understands the decision to change the exhibit, acknowledging the museum's move rather than pushing back against it.
The museum is not walking away from the event entirely, according to Eyewitness News. The broadcaster reported that a new exhibit and a new theme for next year's Met Gala will be announced soon, replacing the plan that had centered on Galliano. For now, the report presented the change as the museum's response to sustained public pressure over its original choice.