Worst celebrity Halloween costumes of all time: Kim Kardashian, Chris Brown and more stoke controversy
Halloween remains a battlefield for out-of-touch stars who risk being canceled over their offensive or tone-deaf costumes.
Recent years have seen seen stars including Kim Kardashian and Julianne Hough be forced to apologize after fans branded their costumes racist.
Meanwhile, other celebrities have been lambasted for simply wearing tasteless outfits.
Regardless of the reasons, stars have racked up plenty of terrible costumes from celebrating Halloween.
Now, DailyMail.com takes a look at some of the worst and most controversial celeb costumes over the years.
Halloween remains a battlefield for out-of-touch stars who risk being canceled over their offensive or tone-deaf costumes, like Kim Kardashian’s 2017 attempt to dress up as Aaliyah
Several stars’ costumes have been branded racist, including Chris Brown’s ‘terrorist’ costume from 2012. Now, DailyMail.com takes a look back at some of the worst and most offensive costumes of all time
Kim Kardashian dresses up as the late Aaliyah in 2017
Kim Kardashian courted controversy — seemingly unintentionally — back in 2017 when she tried to transform herself into the late singer Aaliyah.
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The reality star adopted a similar outfit to the one the songstress wore in the music video for her single Try Again, which was released in 2000 as part of the soundtrack to the film Romeo Must Die, which she also acted in.
The tune went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, but Aaliyah had little time to savor its success, as she died in 2001 in a tragic plane crash.
Although Kim’s Aaliyah costume showed off her stellar figure, it outraged fans due to her decision to dress up as a Black woman.
Due to Kim’s constant tan, it wasn’t clear if she had attempted to darken her skin beyond it’s normal shade, but fans were nonetheless outraged at the race-switching costume.
She later addressed the controversy with a mealy-mouthed apology on her website.
‘I saw online that some people thought my costume was in poor taste and I am truly sorry if that offended anyone. When I was creating the costume, I wasn’t dressing up as a race or culture but rather as a woman whom I will always admire,’ she wrote.
‘I play every kind of genre of music in my home and I like for my kids to be exposed to many different artists. For me, it’s always about love and respect,’ Kim continued, while pointing out her other family members’ costumes.
‘I loved that Kourtney [Kardashian] was Michael Jackson for one of her costumes,’ she said. ‘We don’t see color in my home. We were paying homage to people and artists we love and respect — it’s that simple!’
Kim’s allegedly color-blind costuming went back even further, as she had previously dressed as another fallen singer, the Mexican American star Selena Quintanilla.
However, that look, which involved a sparkling purple bodysuit, failed to ignite the same kind of public criticism, even though Kim was once again dressing up as a woman of another ethnicity.
In 2020, Kim posted a roundup of her favorite past Halloween looks and seemingly ignored the past controversy, as she included both her Aaliyah and Selina costumes among her best looks.
Kim adopted a similar outfit to the one Aaliyah wore in her Try Again music video, which was released in 2000 as part of the soundtrack to the film Romeo Must Die, which she also acted in
The costume was accurate to the original look, and Kim didn’t appear to darken her skin beyond her usual tan, but fans were outraged that she had dressed up as a Black woman
Kim’s allegedly color-blind costuming went back even further, as she had previously dressed as another fallen singer, the Mexican American star Selena Quintanilla, though it didn’t attract the same amount of criticism
Chris Brown offends with ‘terrorist’ costume at Rihanna’s 2012 Halloween bash
Chris Brown didn’t seem to be worried about offending fans when he rolled up to Rihanna’s West Hollywood Halloween party in 2012.
The disgraced hitmaker — who beat the host savagely enough that she had to go to the hospital in an infamous incident three years earlier — was dressed in what might have been a generic Bedouin costume.
However, in addition to the cream-colored robe and gray turban, he added a ridiculously long, thick beard that turned the look into a mockery.
Brown’s costume was described as a ‘terrorist’ look, and he ensured fans would get that impression by carrying a — presumably fake — rifle in a staged photo before the party while wearing crisscrossing ammunition belts across his torso.
He was joined by an entourage in similarly offensive looks who also sported hopefully fake guns aimed at the camera.
Chris was later seen at the party after ditching the cumbersome beard, but the foul impression was already established.
Chris Brown dressed up in comically offensive Bedouin garb with a big fake beard and turned it into a ‘terrorist’ by carrying a rifle and wearing ammo belts to a 2012 Halloween party thrown by his ex Rihanna, whom he savagely beat three years earlier.
Julianne Hough wears Blackface for Orange Is The New Black Costume
There’s been a major effort to educate Halloween partiers about avoiding costumes involving offensive skin darkening to portray a Black or brown person in recent years.
One of the biggest catalysts over the past decade was Julianne Hough’s offensive 2013 costume.
The Dancing With The Stars veteran bronzed up her face and wore orange scrubs resembling a prison uniform to dress up as the character Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren (played by Uzo Aduba) from Netflix’s prison-set series Orange Is The New Black.
The look also featured Julianne’s hair twisted up into an approximation of Bantu knots, a popular hairstyle in Black and African cultures.
Julianne was later forced to apologize for the offensive costume.
‘I am a huge fan of the show Orange Is the New Black, actress Uzo Aduba, and the character she has created,’ she wrote on Twitter. ‘It certainly was never my intention to be disrespectful or demeaning to anyone in any way. I realize my costume hurt and offended people and I truly apologize.’
Julianne Hough’s offensive 2013 look, in which she appeared as Orange Is The New Black character Crazy Eyes, has been used as a warning to avoid Blackface costumes over the past decade
Offensive Halloween costumes targeting multiple races and ethnicities
Some of the worst — and laziest — costumes have arisen from celebrities trying to dress up as people of other races and ethnicities.
Even though some of the looks were intended to be innocent gestures, or even tributes, they nonetheless infuriated fans.
Former Real Housewives Of New York City star Luann de Lesseps was forced to apologize after she dressed as Diana Ross for Halloween.
The costume looked more like Marge Simpson with its comically large Afro wig, and although Luann looked extra tan, she claimed that she hadn’t additionally darkened her skin in a subsequent apology on Watch What Happens Live.
‘I had bronzer on that I wear normally like the rest of my skin. I’m tan, like right now,’ she claimed. ‘So I didn’t add anything or would ever, ever dream of doing a blackface. Ever … I’m very sorry to everyone out there if I offended anyone.’
Tia Mowry, who identifies as Black, irked some fans when she posted photos of herself with heavy makeup, a stylized wig and a colorful fan to transform into what was described as a Japanese Geisha.
In 2014, Ellie Goulding came under fire for wearing a Native American costume with a beaded front piece.
She posted the costume to Instagram, but later deleted the offending images.
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