Target has pulled a children’s Halloween costume from sale after social media users said the design evoked blackface and 19th-century minstrel imagery, and the retailer apologized for the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume Bodysuit” following the online backlash.
The item, priced at $25, was sold through Target’s seasonal Hyde and EEK! Boutique brand before shoppers began circulating screenshots of the listing on Threads, TikTok and other platforms, according to Newsweek.
Company spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo told Fox Business, “As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry.” Mr. Harper-Tibaldo said the costume should never have been part of the retailer’s merchandise lineup and is no longer for sale, and that the company is looking into how the item was approved for sale and what safeguards need to change, particularly given the impact on Target’s Black customers, employees and business partners.
Critics said the costume’s dark face covering, paired with an exaggerated, oversized grin in promotional photos, resembled historical blackface caricatures. One Threads user tied the misstep to Target’s earlier retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion staffing, suggesting no one internally was positioned to flag the design before it went up for sale.
The controversy compounds a string of reputational setbacks for the Minneapolis-based retailer, which has faced boycotts and sales pressure tied to its handling of a 2023 Pride Collection and its subsequent scaling back of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in early 2025, shortly after President Trump returned to office. Target said at the time the changes were meant to stay in step with “the evolving external landscape,” a shift that drew criticism from Black consumers and business owners who had backed the company’s earlier diversity efforts. Target also eliminated roughly 500 positions across its distribution centers and regional operations earlier this year as part of a restructuring intended to shift more resources toward frontline store staffing.
CNN and the Star Tribune, citing Reuters, reported that Target declined to say who designed the costume or how it moved through the company’s product-review process. The Washington Post separately confirmed Target’s apology and the costume’s removal from shelves.
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