Image via Getty/Paul Archuleta
Halloween is truly one of the things that America really got right. No other country celebrates it quite like us, and even if they did, we already has the chokehold on all the best candy, so that’s an automatic win. But the very concept of being someone else for one night is so enticing that the endless options can have you thinking about your costume for a full year.
While some might believe Halloween is a time when you can cloak your own identity with another, it’s actually a time when parts of your true self are plainly revealed. What you dress up as can be a window into what kinds of things you’re interested in, how creative you are, and even how you think about society. When we talk about offensive Halloween costumes, we’re really just talking about people who haven’t given enough thought to the world around them, either because they’ve never had to or because they wanted to, if only for a night, champion attention or Instagram likes more than basic human empathy.
But, it’s not all bad; celebrities do it too. With all the time, money, and energy that being a celebrity affords them, famous people often wear elaborate costumes that can often serve as huge inspirations for us common folk. But celebrities can also often appear to live in an aloof world where societal issues like racism, sexism, or other -isms don’t seem to affect them as much, which results in terribly offensive costumes. We’re talking outfits that trivialize things like the genocide of Native Americans in this country, or the inherent racism that powers blackface.
It’s important to call out celebs when they cross that line because they are role models and should be held accountable when they make mistakes just like anyone else should be. So just in case you forgot, here’s a handy list of some of the most offensive things celebrities have dressed up as for Halloween and otherwise.
The Chainsmokers as Ebola Doctors (2014)
Literally everything about this costume is stupid, including where the EDM duo wore it. In 2014, the DJs performed at Binghamton University and then made their way to an afterparty at (where else?) a fraternity. The theme was “Ebrola,” which is like if bros somehow had to deal with Ebola, the often fatal disease that was making its way through West Africa and, at the time this party was thrown, had already killed 5,000 people. So, of course the Chainsmokers dressed up in hazmat suits and mustached, mimicking the people who were working hard to help the victims of the disease. Not funny, not cool.
Nicky Hilton as Pocahontas (2010)
I couldn’t really have expected a lot more of Nicky Hilton—she might be around savvy businesspeople but she’s not exactly known for being a socially conscious celebrity. But the trivialization of Native Americans in any situation—whether that’s by wearing a headdress at Coachella or donning a full Pocahontas-esque, so-stereotypical-it-hurts Halloween costume like Nicky —is just another sad reminder of how we treat Native Americans in this country. It’s not a costume for them, so it shouldn’t be one for you (and given that sister Paris made the first mistake of going as a "Sexy Indian" in 2010, shouldn't this be a double offense from not learning from the first time?).
Bill Maher as Steve Irwin (2006)
Okay, so those of us who were in undergrad in twenty-ought-six remember every frat dude wearing this costume with their girlfriend, who was either dressed as Paris Hilton or a slutty nurse(ing student). Though this costume is beyond played out, Maher took it to a whole new level with his defiant refusal to apologize for his garment transgression. His quote: “People who really love animals understand if you get killed by one, chances are you were doing something to it you shouldn't have been,” speaks for itself.
Hilary Duff and boyfriend Jason Walsh as Pilgrim and Indian (2016)
So, there’s the bizarre implications that lend themselves to dressing up like this as a couple (oh, she’s the pilgrim, so is she the one who’s going to systematically kill his people and culture? Kinky!) There’s also the basic offensiveness of a white guy donning a headdress and face paint to make himself look like a caricature of a Native American. The truly worst part of this costume was the timing: the couple insensitively forced everyone to remember the violence native Americans had to face at the hands of the Pilgrims literally during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, in which people were protesting an oil pipeline going through sacred Native American grounds.
Jeffrey Ross as Joe Paterno (2012)
Technically, Jeffrey Ross didn’t do this for Halloween, but it’s just so offensive that we just have to say it counts. The comedian showed up to the Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne Barr dressed as Joe Paterno, the deceased Penn State football coach who knew about Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children and did nothing about it. Let’s just set a general rule here: anything involving pedophilia is off limits for Halloween, or any costume party ever, okay? It’s offensive to the victims of sexual assault and that’s just not a good look. Ross was out to make a statement with this costume—he said that the “P” on his jacket stood for “People who can take a joke.” He also claimed that, “If [anyone is] offended by what they see, they can do what Joe Paterno did: look the other way.” Let’s just say there are so many better ways of making this point.
Prince Harry as a Nazi (2005)
Oooof, this one is tough. Absolutely anyone who dresses as a Nazi is someone who has not thought through their entire life enough. There is simply no excuse for even considering that Nazism is a thing of the past or that it’s about time we all started loosening up about it (Charlottesville, and Heather Heyer, who lost her life to a deranged person at a Neo Nazi rally, are prime examples.) But when a British royal, the third-in-line to the throne does it? I don’t even want to touch that with a ten foot pole. What’s worse is Prince Harry dressed up as a Nazi just two weeks before Holocaust Memorial Day AND the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I mean, come on.