Jessica Alba has deleted Halloween photos that showed her dressed as figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, following criticism from followers who objected to the costume’s reference to Kerrigan’s 1994 assault.
The Instagram post, captured by the Daily Express over the weekend, was captioned, “Happy Halloween from Tonya [Harding] … and Nancy.” Alba, 45, wore a white dress, matching tights, ice skates and a bloodstained bandage around her knee. A friend dressed as Tonya Harding, while another person held a baseball bat.
The costume referred to the attack on Kerrigan in January 1994, when she was assaulted by Shane Stant, who had been hired by Harding’s former husband. The incident occurred ahead of the Olympic qualifiers and forced Kerrigan to withdraw.
Followers expressed mixed reactions in the comments. Some called the costume immature and questioned the decision to revisit what they described as a traumatic event involving a victim of an attack. Others argued that more than 30 years had passed and that the story had already been depicted in films and television productions.
Alba’s representative did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment. The deleted caption had also referred to Alba’s 8-year-old son, Hayes, who was dressed as a vampire, but that costume was no longer visible on Alba’s account.
Harding was never criminally convicted of involvement in the attack, but she was later given a lifetime ban from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. The original post was removed after the backlash.
Sources: Page Six.