The 85-year-old lifestyle mogul first defended the look as a way to raise awareness, then posted a fuller apology hours later saying her initial response had fallen short.
Martha Stewart has issued an apology for wearing a homeless-inspired outfit on Halloween, backtracking shortly after an initial remark where she characterized the disguise as a way to bring visibility to homelessness.
In a message posted to Instagram on Sunday, Nov. 1, the 85-year-old businesswoman said her earlier explanation had not gone far enough and called the costume insensitive and unfunny. “It’s hard to admit when you’ve really screwed up,” she wrote, adding that she knows many people are struggling financially and that she was very sorry.
The apology capped a weekend of criticism that began with a since-deleted Instagram post and grew after her first attempt to explain it.
A costume featured in a candle promotion
The photograph depicted Stewart wearing a dark knit beanie, a cardigan, and distressed denim, her face brushed with dark cosmetic smudges while she clutched a placard stating she was famished and seeking assistance. This visual surfaced on her Instagram profile within a publication designed to advertise her scented candles. Based on information from the PA news agency, featured via RTÉ, the accompanying text marketed her QVC candles as an ideal match for the Halloween season.
Combining a destitute-themed costume with a brand promotion sparked a significant wave of outrage. Based on a Newsweek overview of the public response, individuals on X slammed the upload as insensitive and oblivious, with multiple users highlighting the high volume of Americans struggling with housing insecurity. Conversely, Men’s Journal noted that supporters came to Stewart’s defense, claiming that detractors were blowing a simple Halloween outfit entirely out of proportion. As the criticism intensified, the publication was deleted, and Stewart restricted the comment sections on several of her remaining uploads.
A preliminary remark that stopped short of an apology
Before the apology, Stewart addressed the controversy in comments to Page Six. She said she was distressed that the costume had offended people, insisted that had never been her intention and said the idea was to raise awareness of homelessness. She also said she has supported charities that work on the issue, though she did not name them.
That explanation failed to quiet detractors, who doubted how an ensemble presented alongside commercial goods could simultaneously function as activism. Stewart reiterated this perspective within the comments section of a Just Jared Instagram post, stating that the attire aimed to draw attention to hunger and homelessness, though she admitted her initial communication fell short, as noted by Newsweek. Actor Indya Moore countered in that same space, contending that Halloween is hardly the appropriate occasion to mimic individuals enduring hardship. Shortly thereafter, Stewart shared a subsequent post, openly admitting that her previous remarks had proven insufficient.
CNN, which covered the apology on Monday, stated that Stewart’s representatives had been reached for a statement. Newsweek noted that inquiries had been sent to her spokesperson, alongside the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Coalition for the Homeless, and the Coalition for the Homeless, while replies remained pending. By Monday, prominent media organizations covering the incident had failed to publish any public statement from homelessness advocacy organizations.
Why the costume struck a nerve
The criticism landed against a backdrop of persistently high homelessness in the United States. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest annual one-night count found 745,652 people experiencing homelessness in 2025, according to a Congressional Research Service summary of the agency’s report, which was released in May. That was a slight drop from the record 771,480 counted in 2024. More than 266,000 of the people counted in 2025 were unsheltered on the night of the survey.
Outfits transforming vulnerable or marginalized populations into mere costumes have faced continuous criticism. Back in August, Target issued an apology and withdrew a clown outfit from its inventory once detractors argued it brought to mind blackface and minstrel performance aesthetics.
Stewart’s case drew particular attention because of who she is. She built her name in the 1980s as an authority on cooking, entertaining and home life, launched Martha Stewart Living magazine in 1990 and went on to win a dozen Daytime Emmy Awards. Her career survived a 2004 conviction for lying about a stock sale, for which she served a five-month prison sentence, and in recent years she has cultivated a playful, often provocative social media presence that has drawn criticism before.
An enduring Halloween tradition
Halloween has been a staple of Stewart’s brand for decades. Over the years, she has put together elaborate outfits and showcased them in the yearly Halloween edition of her magazine. As Marie Claire notes, she graced the cover of that 2024 issue dressed as Queen Elizabeth I in a golden gown, a white lace ruff, and a crown, while holding an orb and a scepter that were actually just a holiday ornament and a curtain rod. Her staff used the ensemble to crown her the “Queen of Halloween.”
Newsweek highlighted that she has likewise posted nostalgic snapshots of prior ensembles, featuring a spooky horsewoman dating back to 2009 alongside a disguise donned for Bette Midler’s 1998 Hulaween celebration. Furthermore, she has recounted adorning her farm’s entrance annually and distributing an assortment of sweets paired with a small monetary gift to neighborhood trick-or-treaters.
That history helps explain why this year’s costume landed so badly with many of her followers. Stewart’s Halloween posts are usually built around craft, fantasy and spectacle; this one put a real and widespread hardship in the role of a character, and attached it to a sales pitch.
As of Monday, the original image remained deleted, and Stewart had not indicated whether she intends to issue any additional response, such as identifying the charities she mentioned in her initial statement.
