Amid backlash, museum cancels planned Met Gala exhibit on fashion designer John Galliano

FILE - Fashion designer John Galliano poses at the end of the presentation of the Dior Haute Couture spring/summer 2010 fashion collection on Jan. 25, 2010, in Paris. Jacques Brinon/AP hide caption

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Museum of Art is canceling its planned exhibit honoring British designer John Galliano — plans that had led to bitter backlash from the Jewish community and beyond because of the designer's past antisemitic and racist statements.

"John Galliano: Horizons," the high-profile spring Costume Institute exhibit that was to be launched by the annual Met Gala next May, will be replaced by another exhibit, the museum said Monday.

"Following thoughtful discussions with John Galliano, we have together decided not to proceed with the exhibition," Max Hollein, director and CEO of the museum, announced in a statement.

The designer joined in the statement, saying: "After much reflection and discussion with The Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time. I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry for it."

Galliano, long recognized as one of the fashion world's biggest talents for his creatively flamboyant designs, was at the pinnacle of that world for years as creative director of Christian Dior. He was fired from the post when a series of racist and antisemitic comments from 2010 and 2011 surfaced and went viral, leading to his conviction in an antisemitism trial in France.

Among the remarks Galliano made to bar patrons, circulated on video, were "I love Hitler." He also told patrons, who were Jewish, that their mothers and forefathers would have been "gassed." He also made derogatory comments to an Asian patron.

Dropped by Dior, Galliano spent several years involved in public and private efforts to rehabilitate. He made a comeback in 2014 when he was hired by Paris fashion house Maison Margiela, where he remained for a decade.