New York, New York - The Met Gala is one of the most glamorous fashion events in the world, gathering the biggest stars to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. But even with months to go until next year's gala, the theme is already sparking controversy.

Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue announced that it plans to honor the controversial fashion designer John Galliano with the exhibit John Galliano: Horizon next year.

The 65-year-old worked for Dior as a designer until 2011, when he was arrested over a hate crime.

At the time, he reportedly insulted guests in a Paris bar with antisemitic slurs and, while drunk, said, "I love Hitler."

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Galliano was sentenced to pay court costs and a fine, and Dior severed ties with him.

The designer later apologized, claiming he could not remember the episode and that he was battling alcohol and drug addiction.

After the scandal, he withdrew from the fashion world and entered a rehab clinic. In 2014, he staged a comeback, returning to the industry as creative director of Maison Margiela.

Before announcing the exhibition theme, fashion icon Anna Wintour, the chief organizer of the Met Gala, consulted "influential rabbis and Jewish leaders" in New York to gauge potential concerns about the selection, according to the New York Times.

Galliano himself and Andrew Bolton, curator of the Met's Costume Institute, were also said to have taken part in the discussions.

Accordingly, Jewish representatives, including Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, acknowledged that Galliano deserves a second chance.

He said he sensed Galliano's "sincerity."

"He was open. He looked right at us and spoke in a clear way, not as if he had memorized talking points," Jacobs said.

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Another rabbi, Joshua Davidson, also called for Galliano's past behavior and its consequences to be included in the exhibition.

"What we had said to them is it would be powerful, poignant and productive if they were able to leverage it as an opportunity to teach about the reality of antisemitism, and somehow wrap into the exhibition the importance of fighting back and the dangers of antisemitism in this moment," Davidson said.

Nevertheless, he expects that some members of the Jewish community will find the exhibition "problematic."

"People may very likely be upset by it. I can understand those feelings," Davidson added.

The next Met Gala will take place on the first Monday of May. Galliano's exhibition is scheduled to be open to the public from May 9, 2027, through January 9, 2028.