The Met is going to have a rough time coming up with a Plan B after calling off the John Galliano exhibit, we’re told.

There’s nine months until the famous “first Monday in May,” when the Met Gala usually takes place. But that’s an extremely tight timeline.

A source tells us that a significant amount of work had likely already gone into “John Galliano: Horizons,” which was slated to open in May 2027 with the star-studded Met Gala, which is a vital fundraiser for the museum’s Costume Institute.

That work would have included everything from coming up with a concept and research to sourcing archival pieces and tracking down important items for the exhibit.

While one source tells us the official Met Gala theme is normally finalized about a year in advance, another source says themes can be plotted years ahead.

“They could move up a future show that has already started to be planned,” says the source.

But even then there’s a catch.

“It would not be on the same scale. There isn’t enough time to put together an exhibit [of a similar size],” the source says.

Another option would be to build a show around the Costume Institute’s permanent collection.

“[It] has tons of pieces, so they could access what they have and make something thematic,” says the source.

According to the Met’s website, the collection comprises more than 35,000 works representing “five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress, regional costumes, and accessories for men, women, and children, from the 15th century to the present.”

Then there is the most drastic option, canceling the gala, which rakes in millions of dollars for the museum and gets eyeballs on Vogue.

The move is not unprecedented. The gala was canceled in 2000 over internal debates about curatorial control with Karl Lagerfeld for a Chanel theme, and the death of the Costume Institute’s chief curator, Richard Martin. (Chanel was later honored twice: In 2005 with “The House of Chanel” and 2023’s “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.”) It was also canceled during the COVID lockdown and after 9/11.

The crisis follows Galliano’s announcement Monday that he was pulling out of the exhibition after vocal backlash from civic leaders, donors, board members and Jewish groups.

In an Instagram statement, Galliano wrote: “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 continued: “I do not want the debate surrounding me to place the Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute. I also recognise and respect that an exhibition honouring my work would be painful for some.”

The gala had been slated for May 3, 2027 — Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Galliano was found guilty of public insults for reasons of religion, race or ethnicity — which included anti-Asian and antisemitic outbursts in which he praised Hitler and told patrons at a restaurant their ancestors would be been “gassed and dead” — in a French Court in September 2011 for two separate incidents. He was given a suspended fine of 6,000 euros.

He apologized, blamed drugs and alcohol and went to rehab. He also met with religious leaders.

Fashion publicist Lauren London accused Galliano of screaming “Merry Christmas” at a woman he heard speaking Hebrew in July 2019 at the booze-free Henri Chenot spa in Merano, Italy. A rep for Galliano denied the encounter to the Times.

According to reports and Page Six sources, Anna Wintour was instrumental in muscling through the Galliano show.

The Costume Institute’s curator Andrew Bolton told the New York Times in July that he “had been considering a Galliano show since 2010, though he had not gotten serious about it until 2024,” and he outlined some of the plans that were being made to address what he referred to as “the rupture,” referencing Galliano’s horrific behavior.