Saturday, October 31. Martha Stewart, 85, posts a set of Halloween photos to her Instagram. There's festive decor and a plug for her candle line. The caption reads "My QVC candles are perfect for Halloween!!!"
One of the photos shows Stewart herself, in costume.
A black hat. Distressed jeans. A cardigan. Dark marks smeared across her face. And a sign that reads "I AM HUNGRY HELP ME!"
Martha Stewart had dressed up as a homeless person.
The photo came down quickly. It didn't matter. Followers had already grabbed screenshots, and by the next morning they were everywhere.
The Internet Reacts
The backlash was immediate. One person on X called Stewart "tone deaf and totally out of touch". Another compared the costume to "let them eat cake." Pose actress Indya Moore was among those who called her out publicly.
The setting made it worse. Critics pointed out that the original post said nothing about raising awareness. It was promoting candles sold on QVC.
More than 700,000 people in the US are homeless, according to official data. And this was coming from a woman who became America's first self-made female billionaire, and who had been on the "Today" show just days earlier sharing Halloween recipes.
The First Response
On Sunday, Stewart sent a statement to Page Six, People, and TMZ. She said she was distressed that people were offended, and that the costume was "intended to bring more awareness to the very serious subject of homelessness."
She called homelessness one of America's greatest challenges, said she has spent significant time and effort supporting charities that fight it, and said she was committed to continuing to make a difference.
What the statement didn't include was an apology. People noticed, and the criticism kept coming.
"It's Hard to Admit When You've Really Screwed Up"
Later that same day, Stewart tried again. This time she posted a statement on her own Instagram, signed simply "Martha." It opened with that line in the header, and she admitted her first response had fallen short.
She acknowledged that many people are struggling financially and wrote that "wearing a costume like I did was insensitive and not funny." Then she said she was very sorry.
It took two statements and one very long day, but Martha Stewart finally apologized.
Fans Are Split
Reactions to the second statement have been mixed. Some longtime fans were quick to forgive. One joked that sometimes the joke "comes out a little underbaked." Others wondered how no one on her team stopped the post before it went up.
Not everyone is ready to move on. Stewart has kept posting recipes and lifestyle content to her 5.9 million Instagram followers, and her comment sections are still filling up with people bringing up the costume.
Not the First Costume Controversy This Year
Stewart isn't the only one to misjudge Halloween in 2026. In August, Target apologized and pulled a circus clown costume after critics said it evoked blackface and minstrel shows.
But Target is a company. Martha Stewart is the woman who spent decades teaching America exactly what's appropriate for every occasion.
This Halloween, she found the one occasion where she got it wrong.