Anna Wintour’s own staff are reportedly “mortified” by the collapse of the John Galliano Met Gala exhibition.
The Condé Nast insider, speaking exclusively to the outlet on Monday, painted a picture of a workplace paralyzed by fear. “Everybody is whispering behind [Anna’s] back, but nobody is saying anything to her face,” the source said. “They’re all ‘yes-ma’aming’ her like they’ve always done.”
The same insider explained how the culture of deference enabled the controversy to spiral. “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,'” they elaborated. “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.”
Wintour, 76, had been one of Galliano’s most vocal champions even as the backlash intensified. “There is no one more deserving of an exhibition of this scale than John Galliano,” she said in a prior 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 had also defended the decision to confront his history directly rather than avoid it. “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,” Wintour added.
The exhibition, titled “John Galliano: Horizons,” was announced earlier this month as the centerpiece of the 2027 Met Gala. The timing immediately drew fire: the first Monday in May that year falls on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Galliano, now 65, was fired from Dior in 2011 after being 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.
Before the public announcement, Wintour, Galliano and Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton had met with what were described as New York City’s “influential rabbis and Jewish leaders” to “get their thoughts on the potential issues with next year’s planned fashion extravaganza.” The outreach failed to quell the mounting criticism.
The breaking point came early Monday when Galliano announced his withdrawal. “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,” he said in a statement. He expressed concern that the controversy would “place the Met in a difficult position” or distract from the Costume Institute’s work. 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.
Wintour swiftly endorsed the reversal. “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 stated on the official Met Gala website. “I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art said that details of a new exhibition will be announced “at a later date.” Reps for Wintour and Condé Nast did not immediately respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
The insider’s account suggests the internal damage may linger even after the public relations crisis subsides. For an institution built on Wintour’s unassailable authority, the episode has exposed cracks in the foundation of absolute loyalty she has long commanded.
The museum has not yet named a replacement exhibition for the 2027 Met Gala.