Jewish leaders hail cancellation of Met Gala exhibit honoring designer John Galliano

Jewish leaders hail the cancellation of an exhibition linked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s high-profile annual gala centered on designer John Galliano.

Galliano praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and hurled antisemitic epithets at a café in Paris in 2011. He has since apologized.

He announced earlier today that he would not participate in the Met Gala, one of the city’s premier cultural events.

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish, says she is “pleased” that Galliano will not be honored at the event.

Menin is one of the officials leading the city government’s efforts to combat antisemitism, and had pressured the Met to abandon the plan to honor Galliano.

“From the beginning, I have told them that I strongly disagreed with this decision, and at this rising time of antisemitism, it had served as a gut punch to the Jewish community. This is the correct decision, as the harm and pain this was causing was simply unacceptable,” Menin says.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, says, “With antisemitism at crisis levels, the Met honoring John Galliano at this moment was misguided, and even Galliano ultimately recognized what the Met should have done from the start.”

“This was the wrong move at the wrong moment. Timing matters,” he says.

Greenblatt’s predecessor, Abraham Foxman, had worked with Galliano following his antisemitic outburst. In 2013, Foxman said the designer had engaged in a sincere and substantive process of repentance.

“Mr. Galliano has worked arduously in changing his worldview and dedicated a significant amount of time to researching, reading, and learning about the evils of antisemitism and bigotry,” Foxman said at the time.

JTA contributed to this report.