{"id":222200,"date":"2026-08-27T19:16:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/target-apologizes-for-childrens-clown-halloween-costume-after-backlash-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T19:16:44","slug":"target-apologizes-for-childrens-clown-halloween-costume-after-backlash-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/target-apologizes-for-childrens-clown-halloween-costume-after-backlash-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Target apologizes for children\u2019s clown Halloween costume after backlash – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Target apologized Monday and said it had pulled a Halloween costume from sale depicting a circus clown that critics said evoked blackface and minstrel shows.
The product, sold as the \u201cKids\u2019 Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,\u201d prompted a backlash<\/a> on social media, with some consumers saying it resembled a racist caricature.
\u201cAs a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry,\u201d Target said in a statement. \u201cThe costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale.\u201d
It is the latest optics headache for the U.S. retailer as it tries to right its ship after a stretch of poor sales. The company also faced criticism over its handling of products in its 2023 Pride Collection<\/a> and over changes to its diversity, equity<\/a> and inclusion initiatives<\/a> in the wake of President Donald Trump\u2019s return to the White House.
Target declined to comment on who designed the product \u2014 which was sold under the retailer\u2019s seasonal Hyde and EEK Boutique brand \u2014 or the process by which it was green-lit for sale. In its statement, Target said it was \u201clooking closely at how this happened and what needs to change.\u201d
Some Black shoppers, who felt alienated<\/a> after Target\u2019s 2025 DEI rollbacks<\/a>, expressed fresh disappointment on Monday. Sheletta Brundidge, a Minneapolis-area business leader, views the costume as an indirect result of the DEI decision. \u201cYou rolled back diversity,\u201d she said, \u201cso who\u2019s in the room, now, to say, \u2018Hey, this is wrong\u2019?\u201d
Target acknowledged in its statement the costume was \u201cespecially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners.\u201d
Though Hyde and EEK are Target-owned brands, their products have been resold on the websites of retailers like Walmart WMT.O and Amazon AMZN.O, as well as on the marketplace Etsy ETSY.N. Reuters did not see the item in question on those sites. A Walmart spokeswoman said she had no knowledge that the item was being sold. Amazon and Etsy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Target, which has had back-to-back strong quarters, is beginning to see results<\/a> from efforts to cut prices and freshen its merchandise, with new CEO Michael Fiddelke earning plaudits from Wall Street so far.
But the company \u2014 which cannot compete with Walmart and Costco on price \u2014 has little room for error when it comes to managerial or optical missteps, said Brett Husslein, an analyst at Morningstar.
\u201cAs Target begins to gain traction in repairing its brand reputation, this is exactly the kind of stuff they want to avoid,\u201d he said, adding that any headwind \u2014 optical, managerial or macroeconomic \u2014 \u201ccould lead to further market share losses.\u201d
Target\u2019s shares were up 2.7% in afternoon trading.
Reuters
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeTarget apologized Monday and said it had pulled a Halloween costume from sale depicting a circus clown that critics said evoked blackface and minstrel shows.The product, sold as the \u201cKids\u2019 Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,\u201d prompted a backlash on social media, with some consumers saying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}