The Retailer Apologized After a Children’s Clown Costume Featuring a Black Model Drew Comparisons to Blackface and Minstrel Shows
Target has pulled a children’s Halloween costume from its shelves after widespread criticism that the design and its marketing evoked racist minstrel imagery and historical caricatures of Black Americans.
The retailer removed the $25 costume from its Hyde and EEK! Boutique collection Sunday before issuing a public apology Monday, Aug. 24.
“An apology from us: We removed an offensive Halloween costume that should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer for sale,” Target said in a statement posted to social media.
“As a company, we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners.”
Target said removing the costume was only a first step and that the company is examining how the product was approved and what changes are needed to prevent something similar from happening again.
Costume Drew Comparisons to Minstrel and Jim Crow Imagery
The costume, sold under the name “Kids’ Glows under Blacklight Circus Clown,” featured a young Black boy modeling a black-and-orange outfit with baggy patterned clothing, a hood or face covering displaying an exaggerated toothy smile and a small top hat.
Images used to market the costume drew particular criticism because of the boy’s pose, with one leg raised and an arm extended in a wave.
Critics said the combination closely resembled imagery historically associated with minstrel performances and Jim Crow-era caricatures of Black people.
Blackface and minstrel shows have a long history in American entertainment, where performers — frequently white performers wearing dark makeup — portrayed Black Americans through exaggerated and degrading stereotypes. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has documented how those performances helped spread racist representations of Black people through American popular culture.
Reaction to Target’s costume quickly spread across social media.
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“Target, for real? I’m not surprised, but this is a new low,” comedian LaTrez Anderson said in an Instagram Reel that was later deleted, according to The Cut.
Another commenter responding to Target’s apology questioned how many people had approved the costume before it reached customers.
Backlash Comes After Target’s DEI Retreat
The controversy arrives as Target continues facing criticism over its retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The company scaled back several DEI commitments in 2025, a move that generated backlash from customers, civil rights advocates and even members of the family that helped establish the retailer.
Anne and Lucy Dayton, daughters of Target co-founder Bruce Dayton, previously described the company’s retreat from DEI as “a betrayal.”
Target has also faced competing political and consumer pressures in recent years. The retailer previously drew conservative backlash over LGBTQ+-themed Pride merchandise, while its DEI rollback later contributed to boycott campaigns from some Black consumers and civil rights advocates.
Following the launch of a national boycott in March 2025, Target reported a 21% year-over-year decline in net income during its second fiscal quarter, according to previous reporting cited by TheGrio.
Target has since undergone a leadership transition and acknowledged that rebuilding consumer confidence remains a challenge.
For critics, however, the Halloween costume raised a more immediate question: how imagery carrying such obvious historical associations was able to move through the company’s product-development and approval process in the first place.
Target said that is now part of its review.
“Removing the costume is an important first step,” the company said, “and we are looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again.”
