It’s Tuesday, September 1. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: A dispatch from a Free Press Supper Club. Arthur Brooks on why the Baby Boomers won’t grow up. An Air Force general’s lessons about leadership and our next war. And much more.
But first: Suzy Weiss on John Galliano, Anna Wintour, and the Met Gala disaster.
John Galliano has been pumping out fanciful garb, favored by the A-listers who swan red carpets, for over four decades. His designs, figure-hugging gowns with dramatic proportions in sumptuous fabrics, are unmistakable—and beautiful. Still, it was a shock when the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute announced that it would dedicate its yearly exhibit, and the accompanying gala, which is chaired by Anna Wintour, to the British designer.
It was shocking because 15 years ago, Galliano went on a series of drunken antisemitic tirades at a café, telling two women, “Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be fucking gassed,” and “Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead.” He was fired from Dior but made his return to the industry a few years later.
On Monday, after an outcry following the announcement, Galliano and Wintour called off the exhibit. “I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano wrote in a statement. Wintour called the move “courageous.” Yet the outcome is even worse than the original decision to honor Galliano with a lifetime retrospective. Read my piece to find out why the show ought to go on.
—Suzy Weiss
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Last month, thousands of Free Pressers sat down for dinner together. One of them was Andy Brehm, a columnist for The Minnesota Star Tribune, who met four strangers with different jobs, different lives, and different politics. They inspired Andy so much that he wrote an article about his evening. We were so touched by Andy’s piece, and want to share it with you today:
And if you have FOMO after reading his column, fear not! Tickets for our next supper club, on September 17, are now on sale. Join us in more than 50 cities worldwide for a delicious meal, great conversation and, as Andy writes—“something I had nearly forgotten existed in modern American life: genuine curiosity and civility.”
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A flash flood in the Grand Canyon over the weekend killed at least two people and left one person missing, authorities said Monday. About 80 people were rescued from the flooded area.
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The Supreme Court said Monday it will allow Trump to continue building a new White House ballroom, denying the claims of the historic preservation group that said it was harmed by the project. The new construction, which the Trump administration said is 65 percent complete, will be larger than the White House mansion and West Wing combined.
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