‘Fantastic Four’ Star Jessica Alba (45) Scrubs Her Halloween Photos After a Bloody Nancy Kerrigan Costume Triggers Backlash

Halloween always brings a familiar cycle. Celebrities post their most ambitious costumes, the internet weighs in, and by Monday at least one star is quietly deleting something.

This year, the post that took the heat belonged to Jessica Alba. A pop-culture reference that seemed clever at a party looked very different once it reached a wider audience.

Alba deleted her Instagram photos after dressing as figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, complete with a bloody bandage on her knee, while a friend appeared as Tonya Harding holding a baseball bat. The pairing was an unmistakable nod to one of the most notorious attacks in sports history, and followers were quick to say so.

Alba, 45, wore the look to a “Hockey Horror” Halloween party in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct 31. The event was hosted by Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun. She posted the photos with a caption wishing followers a happy Halloween from both skaters.

Alba wore a white lace skating-style dress, and the faux-bloodied bandage on her knee left little doubt about the reference. Her friend wore a deep red skating costume and carried a bat, though the real 1994 attack involved a police baton. Celebrity gossip account Deuxmoi also posted photos from the party, including one of Alba on the ice.

The pictures spread fast. They also drew a very different reaction from the one a party crowd might have given.

The costume referenced a real event involving a real person. In January 1994, Kerrigan was struck in the knee with a baton in an attack organized by Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly. The assault knocked her out of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Commenters on Alba’s post called the costume immature and asked why anyone would revisit an event that damaged people’s careers. Others used the moment to compare it to another celebrity Halloween row from the same weekend. One follower said the public expected better from her.

The reaction built quickly enough that Alba removed the photos from her Instagram grid. The images were reportedly still visible on Threads afterward.

Jessica Alba appears to have deleted her Halloween photos after facing backlash for dressing as figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, complete with a bloodied knee bandage, while her friend Kelly Sawyer dressed as Tonya Harding and held a baseball bat. The costumes referenced the infamous 1994 attack on Kerrigan, with some commenters calling the portrayal insensitive and accusing the pair of making light of a traumatic incident. Others defended the costumes, noting that the story has been revisited in films and television for decades. 📷 IG @ / jessicaalba

— Complex (@Complex) November 2, 2026

Few sports scandals have lasted as long in the public imagination. Harding pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution and was banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association in June 1994. Kerrigan recovered in time to win a silver medal at the Olympics that year, while Harding finished eighth.

The story has resurfaced many times since. The 2017 film ‘I, Tonya,’ starring Margot Robbie, retold the saga from Harding’s perspective and earned Robbie a Golden Globe nomination. Tonya and Nancy costumes have also been a Halloween staple for years, and one outlet named Harding’s look a top costume of 2018.

That history helps explain why the party outfit felt familiar to some and tone-deaf to others. Kerrigan, now 57, has dealt with jokes about the attack before.

The backlash was far from universal. Some commenters on Reddit argued the criticism was blown out of proportion, treating the costume as a clever sports reference rather than an attack on anyone.

That split is part of what makes the story so familiar. Celebrity costumes sit at the intersection of nostalgia and sensitivity, and a joke that lands in a private party can read very differently in a public feed.

Alba’s decision to delete the photos suggests she heard at least some of the criticism. As of now, there has been no lengthy statement from her explaining the choice.

The episode adds to a growing list of Halloween costume controversies that now arrive every year. Celebrities post for fans, and the reaction can turn on the same photos within hours.

For Alba, who has had a busy stretch professionally, the timing is unfortunate. The costume itself took thought and effort, but the subject matter was always going to be a risk.

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