The high-profile retrospective would have launched with the annual Met Gala next May and made Galliano one of only three living designers to receive a solo Costume Institute show. Announcing the decision jointly with Galliano, director Max Hollein said the museum had agreed not to proceed after backlash from the Jewish community and beyond over the designer's 2011 conviction for antisemitic hate speech. Galliano said he did not want the debate surrounding him to place the museum in a difficult position, expressing accountability and remorse. A replacement exhibition for the spring slot has not yet been announced.