A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will not be moving ahead with a major career retrospective of John Galliano planned for next year. It also won't be honoring the influential British fashion designer at the annual Met Gala next spring. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports the decision follows a renewed wave of anger against Galliano, the roots of which go back at least 15 years.
CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: John Galliano was to become one of only three living fashion designers ever to get a solo show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Met trustee and Vogue magazine global editorial director Anna Wintour has long championed the 65-year-old British designer, gushing about him in the 2023 documentary "High & Low - John Galliano."
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "HIGH AND LOW - JOHN GALLIANO")
ANNA WINTOUR: It isn't often that you meet a great designer, but when you saw what John was doing, you realized that he was one of them.
VELTMAN: But on Monday, Wintour joined both the museum and the designer in announcing the Galliano-themed exhibition and gala will not go forward. Wintour called Galliano's decision very courageous. Met director Max Hollein said the museum and the designer had agreed on this jointly. Galliano expressed sadness at the outcome but said he did not want the debate surrounding him to place the Met in a difficult position. That debate centers around drunken racist slurs the designer made around 15 years ago, like this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHN GALLIANO: People like you would be dead today. Your mothers, your forefathers would be [expletive].
VELTMAN: CNN was among the many news outlets to air this tape back in 2011. The designer was arrested and a French court convicted him of an antisemitic hate crime. Christian Dior dropped him as its creative director. Galliano went into rehab for his drinking and drug addictions. He continued to show remorse, including in a 2013 interview with Charlie Rose.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GALLIANO: I apologize, and I am trying to make amends in the best way that I can.
VELTMAN: Some Met donors and community leaders appeared to support the museum's plans for the exhibition and the Met Gala honor when they were first announced in July. For example, Anti-Defamation League's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt took to social media to say that his group had long since accepted Galliano's apology. But Greenblatt says they've changed their position.
JONATHAN GREENBLATT: With antisemitism at crisis levels, the Met honoring John Galliano at this moment was misguided.
VELTMAN: The Met said information about a replacement exhibition and a new 2027 Met Gala honoree will be announced at a later date.
Chloe Veltman, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF FUGAZI'S "SWEET AND LOW") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
