Exclusive | Anna Wintour’s ‘mortified’ employees ‘whispering behind her back’ over John Galliano Met Gala scandal

Anna Wintour’s employees are allegedly “mortified” over the handling of the John Galliano Met Gala 2027 scandal.

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“Everybody is whispering behind [Anna’s] back, but nobody is saying anything to her face,” a Condé Nast insider exclusively told Page Six Monday. “They’re all ‘yes-ma’aming’ her like they’ve always done.”

The source alleged that concerns about the controversial decision to honor Galliano were being discussed behind the scenes. However, we’re told staffers were reluctant to challenge the famously powerful Met trustee — and Vogue’s global editorial director — directly.

“That’s how something like this gets this far in the first place. People are afraid of losing their jobs, so nobody wants to be the person who stands up and says, ‘This is a bad idea,’” the insider explained.

“There were definitely people who had concerns, but no one wanted to challenge her directly, and now people are mortified by how this was handled.”

Reps for Wintour and Condé Nast did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.

As Page Six previously reported, the backlash came to a head early Monday when Galliano, now 65, announced he was withdrawing from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s planned 2027 “John Galliano: Horizons” exhibition following mounting criticism over his history of antisemitic and racist remarks. 

“After much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano said in a statement.

The former Dior designer added that he did not want the controversy surrounding him to “place the Met in a difficult position” or distract from the work of its Costume Institute. 

Galliano also acknowledged that an exhibition honoring his career would be painful for some people — adding that he remains accountable for any previous hurt he caused the Jewish and Asian communities. 

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Wintour supported Galliano and his decision, stating in her own statement (per the official Met Gala website), “John’s decision that the exhibition devoted to his work should not take place at this time is very courageous and a measure of the man he is.”

She added, “I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support.”

The museum also said that details of a new exhibition will be announced “at a later date.”

Earlier this month, the museum and Vogue announced plans to honor Galliano with an exhibition celebrating his career, despite the designer remaining a deeply polarizing figure following his infamous 2011 scandal.

Galliano was fired from Dior after he was caught on video making antisemitic and racist remarks at a Paris café, including declaring, “I love Hitler.” He was later found guilty in France of public insults based on a person’s origin and fined. 

The planned tribute immediately drew scrutiny, particularly because the 2027 Met Gala is scheduled for the first Monday in May, which falls on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

Before the exhibition was announced, Wintour, 76, Galliano and Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton had met New York City’s “influential rabbis and Jewish leaders” in a bid to “get their thoughts on the potential issues with next year’s planned fashion extravaganza.”

Wintour had nevertheless been one of Galliano’s most prominent defenders.

“There is no one more deserving of an exhibition of this scale than John Galliano,” she previously said in a statement. “His body of work — at Dior, Givenchy, Margiela, his namesake label and more—combines erudition and creativity, darkness and light, the past, the present, the future all smashing together in a brilliant way.”

She continued, “He’s a great designer and his career isn’t defined by a moment—something that he will live with for the rest of his life. The exhibition won’t shy away from any of the darkness in John’s past. It’s part of what has shaped him. The show will take in the full arc of his career and grapple with all of it.”

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