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 image showed Stewart in torn jeans, a dark knit hat and a cardigan, with smudges of dark makeup across her face, holding a sign saying she was hungry and asking for help. It appeared on her Instagram account as part of a post promoting her candles. According to the PA news agency, as published by RTÉ, the caption pitched her QVC candles as a good fit for Halloween.
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 issuing the apology, Stewart tackled the controversy during remarks shared with Page Six. She expressed distress over the offense caused by her outfit, maintained that causing upset was never her goal, and explained that the concept aimed to spotlight homelessness. Furthermore, she mentioned backing charities focused on the cause, yet omitted mentioning any specific organizations.
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.
Costumes that turn vulnerable or marginalized groups into dress-up have drawn repeated scrutiny. In August, Target apologized and pulled a clown costume from its shelves after critics said it evoked blackface and minstrel-show imagery.
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.
A long Halloween tradition
Halloween has been part of Stewart’s brand for decades. She has staged elaborate costumes over the years and features them in her magazine’s annual Halloween coverage. In 2024 she appeared on the cover of that issue as Queen Elizabeth I, in a gold gown, a white lace ruff and a crown, carrying an orb and scepter that were in fact a holiday ornament and a curtain rod, according to Marie Claire. Her editors used the look to dub 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.
