There are a lot of spooky things about Halloween: scary movies, Halloween decorations that jump out at you when you walk by, or finding yourself on your last piece of candy…
But when it comes to the truly terrifying stuff, offensive costumes top that list — especially when they’re worn by celebs.
Come take a look at the controversial costumes these celebs are still haunted by.
1. Julianne Hough as Crazy Eyes
It was one thing for the actress to go as “Crazy Eyes” from Orange is the New Black , but something else entirely for her to dress up in blackface.
She ended up apologizing profusely for the whole thing.
“Ignorance is sometimes not bliss; I really had no idea what I was doing, and it was all out of fun and respect for the character,” Hough told Allure.
“I don’t even know how to talk about it because it’s such a sensitive topic. It makes me so sad to think that I was that dumb. I learned a big lesson.”
2. Heidi Klum as Goddess Kali
The supermodel is known for absolutely crushing it at Halloween, but when she went as the Hindu goddess Kali in 2008, some say that she missed the mark.
In fact, some Hindu leaders were so offended by her costume choice that they demanded that she apologize. She never did.
3. Snooki as a Girl on a Milk Carton
With all the crazy stunts she’s pulled over the years, it’s hard to be surprised by Snooki anymore.
But she definitely had people up in arms when she dressed up as a missing child on a milk carton.
4. Chrissy Teigen as a Native American
When will celebs ever learn?? “Sexy Indian” costumes are never going to be received well.
It didn’t help that husband John Legend dressed as a cowboy, making it an “Indian and cowboys” theme.
5. The Chainsmokers as “Ebrola”
This maybe would have been okay, had it not been during the middle of the ebola epidemic that killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa.
Definitely missed the mark, guys.
6. Colton Haynes as Kanye West
In 2011, the actor went as Kayne West by painting his body in dark brown paint. Not cool.
The next year, he proved that he hadn’t learned his lesson by going as Gandhi in brown face paint.
After he faced backlash for both of the incidents, he finally apologized.
“I’ve gotten in trouble for … a few of my costumes in the past and I wasn’t aware that I was offending people, but that wasn’t my intention at all, and I really,” he said in a video.
“I haven’t apologized yet, but I wanted to apologize for that. And that won’t be happening again.”
7. Ashley Benson as Cecil the Lion
The Pretty Little Liars actress caused major outrage when she dressed up as Cecil the Lion who, at the time in 2015, had recently been hunted by an American dentist.
She ended up apologizing on social media the very next day.
8. Jenni “JWoww” and her family as characters from *Moana*
The controversy over the family’s costume was almost as bad as the drama that surrounded JWoww and Roger’s split.
Basically, fans claimed that dressing up as the characters from the Disney film was considered cultural appropriation.
9. Chris Brown as a “terrorist”
Yikes. Where do we even begin with everything that’s wrong with this image?
People were offended everywhere, including on Twitter, where one person called him the “least self-aware celebrity on earth.”
10. Tana Mongeau as Jojo Siwa
YouTube star, Tana Mongeau, has experienced her fair share of controversy over the years (especially when she was with Jake Paul).
But Tana really hit a new low when she thought it was appropriate to go as a “sexy” version of Jojo Siwa.
In case you don’t know who Jojo Siwa is, she’s a dancer from *Dance Moms*.
She’s also 17…
At the time of Tana’s photo, she was also 15, which means that Tana’s costume was sexualizing a minor…
Not a good look.
11. Kim Kardashian as Aaliyah
The reality TV mogul was accused of being offensive by dressing up as the singer Aaliyah for two main reasons.
For one, people pointed out that the singer was a black woman and Kardashian is not.
And two, people took offense to Kim dressing up as the iconic singer who tragically died in a plane crash at the young age of 22.
“Legend or not Aaliyah is a black woman and you’re not. It’s offensive and you shouldn’t push this limit, but ok…” one wrote.
12. Ashley Tisdale as a Day of the Dead skull
Yikes. When Ashley put on her costume, she didn’t stop to consider that Day of the Dead is actually a Mexican tradition that honors people’s dead relatives.
“THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REPRESENTING AND APPROPRIATING A CULTURE,” one person wrote on Tisdale’s image from 2016.
13. Hillary Duff as a pilgrim
If you thought Hilary Duff could do no wrong, think again.
In 2016, she and her ex Jason Walsh caused quite the stir by dressing up as a pilgrim and a Native American stereotype.
Since they were accused of cultural appropriation, Hilary was forced to apologize.
“I am SO sorry to people I offended with my costume. It was not properly thought through and I am truly, from the bottom of my [heart] sorry,” Duff tweeted .
