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When the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced at the end of July that the 2027 celebrity-fueled gala for its Costume Institute and an accompanying exhibit would honor the designer John Galliano, it did so in a defensive crouch.
Earlier in the year, the New York Times reported, Met trustee, Condé Nast "global chief content officer," and face of the Met Gala Anna Wintour convened a meeting at the museum with Galliano and "a handful of the most influential rabbis and Jewish leaders in New York City." They were looking, apparently, for permission for the theme, because to anyone outside of the fashion niche, Galliano is most known as the designer who went on a series of flamboyantly racist and antisemitic tirades.
In three separate incidents between October 2010 and February 2011, the second of which was recorded in a now-infamous video, Galliano called people a "fucking ugly Jewish bitch" and "fucking Asian bastard"—in Paris, mind you—and capped it all off by exclaiming "I love Hitler." Despite spirited defenses from some of his peers in the fashion world, he lost his job at Dior, was convicted in France's courts for antisemitism, lost his medal from the French Legion of Honour, and had to lay low for a time before Wintour got him another job, as creative director for Maison Margiela.
The July meeting apparently went well—the Times spoke to one rabbi who was "impressed" by Galliano, and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was appeased, saying Galliano's "efforts to repair the damage his words caused and to learn from that incident should be applauded."
But on Monday morning, Wintour's attempt to canonize her friend ended in a dramatic faceplant, as Galliano announced his withdrawal from the exhibit, meaning they'll have to find another exhibit, and another theme for the Met Gala.