Anna Wintour reportedly faces calls to retire after John Galliano Met Gala firestorm: ‘Lost her touch’

Anna Wintour found herself at the center of a fashion firestorm after plans to celebrate disgraced designer John Galliano at the Met Gala unraveled.

Scrapping the planned 2027 exhibition devoted to Galliano's work did little to quiet the criticism, with fashion industry insiders telling the New York Post that Wintour should face greater scrutiny over her role in the project.

"I wish Anna would take more accountability," an insider told the New York Post .

"She is the person who wanted this to happen, never fully considering the consequences,’’ the source said.

"She is the public face and reaps the benefit of the gala and the surrounding coverage." MET GALA BACKLASH GROWS AS CELEBRITIES AND POLITICIANS TARGET JEFF AND LAUREN BEZOS' SPONSORSHIP "Why does she only get to reap the rewards and not face more criticism?" Red carpet expert Melissa Rivers told Page Six Style , "Anna Wintour is brilliant, but people rarely say no [to her], and in the past, she’s made some mistakes of not reading the room correctly." Rivers said her late mother, Joan Rivers, "would have hated" a Galliano-themed Met Gala, but admitted she was a fan of his designs.

"He was such a force of nature in fashion and design… Is it a great time to honor his work? Unfortunately, no, not a great read of the room," she said.

At the heart of the Met Gala backlash was Galliano’s troubled past.

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 the creative director of Christian Dior.

He was fired in 2011 after a series of racist and antisemitic remarks he made in 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 and circulated on video was the statement, "I love Hitler." He also told Jewish patrons that their mothers and forefathers would have been "gassed." He also made derogatory comments to an Asian patron.

After he was dropped by Dior, Galliano spent several years working to rehabilitate his image and career.

He made a comeback in 2014 when he was hired by Paris fashion house Maison Margiela, where he remained for a decade.

KIM KARDASHIAN, BEYONCE AND BLAKE LIVELY STEAL THE SHOW AT THE 2026 MET GALA However, putting him at the center of the Costume Institute's 2027 exhibition brought new scrutiny for Vogue's former editor-in-chief.

Others defended Wintour, arguing the decision had extended far beyond her.