{"id":7787,"date":"2026-08-31T20:38:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7787"},"modified":"2026-08-31T20:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:38:33","slug":"exclusive-how-behind-the-scenes-battle-to-keep-galliano-away-from-met-gala-raged-before-his-involvement-was-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7787","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | How behind the scenes battle to keep Galliano away from Met Gala raged before his involvement was announced"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

She said Gallia-no<\/em>. <\/p>\n

A campaign to get disgraced designer John Galliano ousted from next year\u2019s Met Gala began before the announcement of his controversial participation was ever made, Speaker of the New York City Council Julie Menin exclusively told The Post. <\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Anna Wintour\u2019s \u2018mortified\u2019 employees \u2018whispering behind her back\u2019 over John Galliano Met Gala scandal<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn late July, The Met reached out to me and said they needed to meet,\u201d said lifelong New Yorker Menin, the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.<\/p>\n

The announcement of Galliano as the theme of the 2027 bash \u2014\u00a0and the subject of a coveted Costume Institute exhibit \u2014\u00a0had not yet been made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they told me they were going to honor John Galliano, my first comment was, \u2018That can\u2019t be a final decision.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t believe it. And when they made it clear that they were serious about a John Galliano Met Gala, I said, \u2018I strongly disagree with this. I am letting you know that you are being put on notice. I am going to speak out about this. I\u2019m going to push you to reverse course.’\u201d<\/p>\n

To Menin, the idea that New York\u2019s most high-voltage annual social event would honor \u201ca man who said he loved Hitler, that the Jews should be gassed \u2014 it\u2019s wholly unacceptable\u2026 I told them this was a gut punch to the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Menin immediately embarked on a coordinated outreach campaign connecting with New York-based Jewish advocacy groups, Costume Institute leaders like curator Andrew Bolton, and Vogue\u2019s leadership team \u2014\u00a0saying she even \u201cmet with Anna Wintour\u201d several weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the position of The Met that they could contextualize the remarks that John Galliano made,\u201d Menin recounted. \u201cBut my point was that it is a decision to honor and to celebrate, and that\u2019s really where I had a major issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalls having a \u201cvisceral\u201d reaction in the pit of her stomach when discussing the designer\u2019s documented racism and antisemitism. \u201cI felt sick to my stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Menin wasn\u2019t the only one angered by the announcement. <\/p>\n

Prominent cultural philanthropists like Julie Macklowe condemned the decision as antisemitic and ignorant \u2014 noting to the New York Times that as recently as 2019, the designer had been accused of harassing Jewish women for simply speaking Hebrew in public. (Galliano denied the accusations.)<\/p>\n

In an email sent first to the Metropolitan Museum of Art leadership and then forwarded to socialites and friends over the weekend, trustee Alice Tisch called Galliano\u2019s imminent show \u201ca failure of governance\u201d while city council member Brad Lander condemned it as a \u201cbad mistake\u201d in a public statement.<\/p>\n

New York Fashion Week founder Fern Mallis told The Post: \u201cI agree with this decision, I think they\u2019ve all come to their senses. It\u2019s an important time, and it\u2019s rewarding to see that when enough people speak their mind they can effect change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, New York donors like Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher threatened to pull support from the Metropolitan Museum as a whole, according to reports from the Times. <\/p>\n

Read more Anna Wintour calls antisemite John Galliano \u2018courageous,\u2019 offers him \u2018full support\u2019 after he\u2019s forced to pull out of Met Gala<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Hollywood, talent agents were caught in the unusual bind of hoping their up-and-coming ingenues wouldn\u2019t <\/em>be invited to the \u201cparty of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t in good conscience tell my clients who are Jewish to just take the ticket,\u201d said a talent executive at a top firm, who begged anonymity because of the sensitive nature of his work. <\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, we do everything possible to get our girls on that red carpet. Anything. <\/em>This year, we were freaked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Paris, executives worried that \u201cbecause Galliano was convicted of a hate crime, which is a serious offense there, it might be hard to get involved,\u201d said the PR director of a major fashion brand whose head designer often attends the Met Gala as a guest.<\/p>\n

If even Vogue advertisers declined to buy a table for the annual fashion frenzy, the Costume Institute would lose millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Menin reminded The Post that the city of New York is also a prominent donor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and its cash shouldn\u2019t be put towards vaunting a documented antisemite. <\/p>\n

\u201cHate crimes here are unfortunately at a historic high,\u201d she said. Data from early August reported on by The Post showed that incidents had soared since the last mayoral election \u2014\u00a0with more than half committed against Jews. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe council gives over $3 million for educational programs to support the Met. Not to mention other support that the City of New York gives to the Metropolitan Museum.\u201d That support, Menin said, could not fund a legacy of anti-Jewish and anti-Asian bigotry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a victory for the Jewish community. This is a victory for the Asian community. This is a victory for tolerance, inclusion and standing up for the right thing,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

Menin said her phone \u201chas been ringing off the hook\u201d since news of the cancellation broke early this morning.<\/p>\n

Read more Social Security nears \u2018cliffs edge\u2019 \u2014 putting recipients at risk of losing $500 a month<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers,\u201d she said, \u201care thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin led a private campaign to stop the Met Gala from honoring John Galliano, resulting in its cancellation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive | How behind the scenes battle to keep Galliano away from Met Gala raged before his involvement was announced - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7787\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive | How behind the scenes battle to keep Galliano away from Met Gala raged before his involvement was announced - 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