Jessica Alba deletes Nancy Kerrigan Halloween photos after backlash - USA Today

Jessica Alba drew Halloween inspiration from sports history, but some people are questioning whether the moment she chose belonged at a costume party.

Alba, 45, dressed as Nancy Kerrigan for Halloween, pairing white skates and a bandage streaked with fake blood wrapped around her knee. Some of Alba's Instagram followers questioned why she'd turned the 1994 attack on the figure skater into a costume.

In a now-deleted Instagram post shared on Sunday, Nov. 1, Alba wrote, "Happy Halloween from Tonya … and Nancy," along with an image of her friend dressed as Tonya Harding, Kerrigan's rival, holding a baseball bat over one shoulder.

By the following day, Nov. 2, Alba had taken down the Instagram post, though the photos were still circulating on Threads.

USA TODAY has reached out to Alba's representatives for comment.

"Human suffering has always been fair game, and not just at Halloween," one X user @BirdieBittern wrote.

"Jessica Alba thought dressing up as a bloodied, clubbed Nancy Kerrigan was a cute Halloween idea," wrote X user @Ginasassyass. "Hollywood really went all in on tone deaf this year. This one is sick."

In 1994, a man struck figure skater Kerrigan near the knee with a police baton. Jeff Gillooly, skating rival Harding's ex-husband, helped plan the attack. He was charged and convicted along with three coconspirators for planning and carrying out the attack.

Alba and her friend wore the outfits at a Los Angeles Halloween party on Oct. 31 hosted by Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun. The "Hockey Horror" theme drew on the hockey romances "Heated Rivalry" and "Off Campus," according to Cosmopolitan⁠. 

Martha Stewart posted, then deleted, a photo of her Halloween costume showing her in torn jeans and holding a cardboard sign asking for help. The image sparked backlash from some on social media who said she was mocking people experiencing homelessness.

In an initial Nov. 1 statement to People, Stewart said she had hoped to draw attention to the issue before issuing an apologetic follow-up statement hours later.

"It's hard to admit when you've really screwed up," she wrote on Instagram. "I know many people are suffering economically. Wearing a costume like I did was insensitive and not funny. I am very sorry."

Paris Hilton also received backlash for her "Beauty and the Beast" family costume, which prompted questions among followers about why Hilton wore Belle's ballgown while her 2-year-old went as Chip. Hilton said London had asked to be the teacup, her favorite character. 

"London said she wanted to dress up as Chip," Hilton wrote⁠. "She said it was her favorite character in the movie."