Martha Stewart has apologized for dressing up as a homeless person for Halloween after an Instagram post showing her in the costume, which also promoted her QVC candle collection, triggered a wave of online criticism. Stewart shared the now-deleted photo on Saturday, and by Sunday evening she had posted a second, more direct apology acknowledging that her first attempt to explain herself had fallen short.
The image, part of an Instagram carousel, showed Stewart wearing a black hat, distressed jeans and a cardigan, with black marks smeared across her face as she held up a sign reading “I AM HUNGRY HELP ME!!” according to CNN. The photo was the third slide in a carousel promoting her candle collection on QVC, and NBC News reports that the caption read, “My QVC candles are perfect for Halloween!!!”
Reaction was swift and largely negative. The outlet notes that many people interpreted the costume as mocking the poor, with some calling it “out of touch” and “dystopian.” Backlash to the post also accused Stewart of being out of touch amid widening inequality and an ongoing affordability crisis, even as some commenters pushed back, saying the uproar over a Halloween costume was overblown.
Two Statements, Two Very Different Tones
Stewart’s first response came in a statement to a news outlet on Sunday and framed the costume as well-intentioned. She said the costume, which was intended to bring more awareness to the very serious subject of homelessness, had offended people, which was never her intention, the same CNN report states. She added that she was distressed by the response and said she had long donated to and supported charities focused on homelessness.
That explanation did not quiet critics, and Stewart followed it with a second, blunter statement posted to her Instagram story later Sunday. “My earlier statement didn’t go far enough,” she said, according to CNN. “I know many people are suffering economically. Wearing a costume like I did was insensitive and not funny. I am very sorry.”
According to the original New York Times report by Alisha Haridasani Gupta, God’s Love We Deliver is a New York nonprofit that provides medically tailored meals and comprehensive nutrition care and education at no cost to those it serves. The organization serves people living with illness and does not specifically cater to people experiencing homelessness.
Disputed Numbers on Homelessness
The scale of homelessness nationally has become part of the conversation around the controversy, though sources differ on the exact figures. The Guardian reports that there are at least 770,000 homeless people across the US, according to official figures, while CNN reports that more than 700,000 people in the US are homeless, according to official data. A separate HUD announcement states that 745,652 people were homeless in the 2025 Point-in-Time count, including 266,320 people living on the street on a single night in January 2025.
Not the First Costume Controversy This Season
Stewart’s costume lands amid a string of recent Halloween controversies. CNN notes that Target apologized and stopped selling a circus clown costume in August after critics said it evoked Blackface and minstrel shows. NBC News reports that content creator McCall DaPron faced similar backlash over the weekend for costumes depicting the Kennedy family, and that the reaction to Stewart recalls the outrage actor and model Julia Fox sparked the previous year with a bloodstained Jackie Kennedy costume.
Stewart, 85, built much of her public identity around an aspirational lifestyle brand and was America’s first self-made female billionaire, a reputation that survived a prison sentence in the early 2000s after she was convicted of lying. She has discussed her prison experience. Whether this latest apology will land remains an open question for a public figure whose brand has long rested on crisis recovery.
