Met Gala 2027 May Change Date Amid John Galliano Theme Controversy: Here’s What We Know | Just Jared
The 2027 Met Gala theme continues to spark controversy and pushback a month after its announcement.
On July 31st, it was announced that the next event would honor designer John Galliano, with the Costume Institute’s spring 2027 exhibit titled “John Galliano: Horizons.”
If you don’t know, the controversy surrounding the theme is due to John‘s past of antisemitic comments, which cost him his job at Dior, and later being convicted of a hate crime in Paris.
However, despite Anna Wintour and the Met defending the theme of honoring John Galliano and meeting with Jewish Leaders, there has reportedly been growing criticism leading to a potential date change of the big event.
As public criticism continues, the Met trustees and board members are scrambling to do damage control, according a new report by The New York Times, and are considering changing the date of the 2027 Met Gala, which will fall on May 3rd.
The Met Gala is always held on the first Monday in May, except in 2020 due to COVID, and next year’s date falls on Yom HaShoah, which is the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Heroism.
“In recent days, opposition to the museum’s plan to honor Galliano has grown among Jewish leaders in New York and beyond,” The Times reports. “Donors have contacted Met executives and threatened to rescind gifts to the museum if the exhibition moves forward as planned.”
New York City Council’s speaker Julie Menin has also recently posted a letter to Anna Wintour and The Met, urging them to reconsider honoring John Galliano.
“Mr. Galliano’s long public record of antisemitism, racism and anti-Asian bigotry is deeply troubling,” Julie wrote in her letter. “His conduct was repeated and significant. He was criminally convicted in France for racist and antisemitic public insults. He was also captured on video praising Adolf Hitler and telling others that their ancestors would have been ‘gassed.’ That is not behavior that should be easily overlooked or normalized. Recently, there were reports of a similar antisemitic incident that allegedly occurred in 2019.”
“At a time when our city is confronting a serious rise in antisemitism, anti-Asian hate, and other forms of hatred, I find the decision to so prominently honor someone who has engaged in this behavior to be wholly inappropriate. New York City is one of the most diverse cities in the world.”
“The Met is one of New York City’s most treasured and visible cultural institutions. Its choices carry enormous weight, both here and around the world,” she added. “I believe this choice falls short of the standard New Yorkers should expect from it.”
The museum’s director, Max Hollein, shared a statement on Friday (August 28).
“The Met has no tolerance for antisemitism, racism or prejudice of any kind. We are in close consultation with Jewish leaders and other stakeholders, and we take the concerns we’ve heard very seriously,” he said, via The Times, adding that the leadership “is developing a thoughtful plan for next year’s exhibition and gala that meets the moral and ethical standards set by the museum.”
Galliano would be the third living designer the Met Gala has honored with an exhibition, following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo in 2017.
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