John Galliano has withdrawn from a planned Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition honouring his fashion career, which was due to open with the Met Gala on 3 May, after backlash over past antisemitic remarks. The decision follows a New York Times report highlighting criticism from donors, politicians and Jewish leaders over the Met celebrating a designer convicted of a hate crime, putting gala organisers including Anna Wintour in a difficult position.

Galliano was dismissed by Christian Dior in 2011 after footage emerged of him making antisemitic and racist remarks, including references to Hitler and gas chambers, while drunk in a Paris bar. He was later found guilty by a French court of public insults based on race and religion, receiving a suspended fine of $8,400 plus damages. In an Instagram statement, Galliano said he remained "fully accountable" for the hurt caused and that meaningful atonement required ongoing conduct rather than an exhibition; the show would have made him only the third living designer, after Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo, to receive a Met solo exhibition.