Jessica Alba has scrubbed her Halloween post from Instagram after a costume depicting Nancy Kerrigan’s 1994 assault drew heavy criticism.
The “L.A.’s Finest” star, 45, appeared in the since-deleted upload dressed as Kerrigan, 57, complete with a white dress, matching tights, ice skates and a bloodstained knee bandage, according to a capture obtained by the Daily Express. Her friend Kelly Sawyer stood beside her dressed as Tonya Harding, 55, in a sparkly maroon outfit and held a baseball bat. The caption read, “Happy Halloween from Tonya [Harding] … and Nancy.”
Alba’s original post had also featured her 8-year-old son, Hayes, as a vampire, though that image is no longer visible on her account either. The actress shares Hayes and daughters Honor, 18, and Haven, 15, with ex-husband Cash Warren. Haven posted about her own unicorn look via Instagram on Sunday.
The backlash arrived swiftly in the comments section before Alba removed the post entirely. “Immature. We expect better, Jessica,” one follower wrote. Another questioned the duo “revisit[ing] this traumatic moment that ended people’s careers” and “making a Halloween costume out of a victim of an attack.”
A third commenter referenced Martha Stewart’s own controversial Halloween choice this year, writing, “Wow, first Martha and now Jessica. Why are we being nasty this Halloween?”
On Reddit, however, a different conversation unfolded. “Eh. It’s been over 30 years, there’s been two feature films and, like, five made for TV movies about it,” one user pointed out. “Seems like a pretty tame joke at this point.”
The costume referenced one of the most infamous episodes in sports history. In January 1994, Kerrigan was attacked ahead of the Olympic qualifiers by Shane Stant, who used a police baton in the assault. Stant had been hired by Harding’s ex-husband. Kerrigan was forced to withdraw from the competition. Harding was never criminally convicted of involvement but received a lifetime ban from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. She has recently gone public with plans to return to the sport.
Alba has been dating actor Danny Ramirez, 34, since her divorce from Warren last year. Ramirez did not share any Halloween content on social media over the weekend. Alba’s representative did not immediately respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
The controversy caps a Halloween season marked by several celebrity costume decisions that generated public debate. Alba, who rose to fame on “Dark Angel” and later built the Honest Company into a consumer goods empire, has generally maintained a polished public image focused on motherhood and entrepreneurship.
Her daughters have grown up largely in the public eye, with Honor now 18 and Haven 15. Hayes, the youngest at 8, had appeared in the original post before his vampire costume vanished along with the rest of the upload.
Alba is scheduled to appear at a retail event in Los Angeles promoting her Honest Company product line.
