{"id":7367,"date":"2026-08-25T08:37:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T08:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7367"},"modified":"2026-08-25T08:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T08:37:02","slug":"target-pulls-offensive-halloween-costume-from-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7367","title":{"rendered":"Target pulls ‘offensive’ Halloween costume from stores"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Target has apologized\u00a0for a circus clown Halloween costume that critics accused of evoking\u00a0Blackface\u00a0and 19th-century minstrel shows following online backlash.<\/p>\n

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The costume was sold as the \u201cKids\u2019 Glows Under \u200cBlacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,\u201d according to the since-deleted listing. The costume was sold as part of the retailer\u2019s seasonal Hyde and EEK Boutique brand.<\/p>\n

Target removed the \u201coffensive\u201d costume and said that it should never have been featured in its stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale,\u201d company spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo said in a statement to FOX Business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won\u2019t happen again,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

The move to pull the costume comes after social media backlash in which critics accused the\u00a0Minneapolis-based retailer\u00a0of selling racist merchandise.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou really don\u2019t have anyone left in Minneapolis to say, \u2018Hey, that\u2019s racist\u2019? Y\u2019all cut DEI and now you\u2019ve got a minstrel clown costume for kids on your website,\u201d one user said on Threads.<\/p>\n

This comes on the heels of several reputational hits for the retailer that have\u00a0hurt sales\u00a0in recent years, including Target\u2019s handling of its Pride Collection in 2023 and its rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives after President Donald Trump returned to the White House.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Target joined a broad corporate effort to scale back diversity initiatives after Trump issued a series of executive orders aimed at rooting out DEI.<\/p>\n

The retailer scaled back initiatives aimed at increasing representation of Black employees and supporting Black-owned businesses and suppliers, saying it needed to stay in step with \u201cthe evolving external landscape.\u201d <\/p>\n

The reversal drew backlash from some Black consumers and business owners who had supported or benefited from Target\u2019s diversity efforts.<\/p>\n

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Target has pulled a kids’ circus clown Halloween costume and apologized after critics accused the outfit of evoking Blackface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nTarget pulls 'offensive' Halloween costume from stores - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7367\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Target pulls 'offensive' Halloween costume from stores - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Target has pulled a kids' circus clown Halloween costume and apologized after critics accused the outfit of evoking Blackface.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7367\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-25T08:37:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Target pulls ‘offensive’ Halloween costume from stores\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-25T08:37:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367\"},\"wordCount\":404,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5a95e0221f7034ba7cb5b06ffe887cfe.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=7367\",\"name\":\"Target pulls 'offensive' Halloween costume from stores - 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