Halloween shoppers were treated to a spooky surprise when Target posted a minstrel-style costume that immediately sparked online outrage.
The costume controversy kicked off when shoppers saw on Target’s website a circus clown costume, with gloves, a top hat, and a mask with a grinning mouth with oversized teeth.
The image, which appeared to be worn by a young Black boy, has now been deleted. The ad caused many social media users and critics to draw comparisons to racist imagery and tropes from the Jim Crow era.
Doubt @Target never would have made the disastrous decision to market a Halloween costume that looks like it’s straight out of the Jim Crow era if Black folks had a seat at the table.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) August 23, 2026
Anyway, looks like they pulled it. pic.twitter.com/lF79v4yePf
Target said in a statement that it stopped selling the costume labeled “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume.”
“The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment,” the statement continued, adding: “We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners.”
This latest blowback comes on the heels of the retailer having faced a yearlong boycott by Black shoppers over the elimination of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts after the Trump administration began targeting those programs. The store had become a popular destination for shoppers looking for culturally relevant products and Black entrepreneurs launching hair, skincare, and other lifestyle finds.
Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner launched the National Target Boycott in response to the company ending its DEI commitment. Minnesota activists Nekima Levy Armstrong and Monique Cullars-Doty issued their own separate call for a boycott around the same time.
Atlanta megachurch pastor Jamal Bryant was one of the people who heeded their calls and urged his congregation to take their dollars elsewhere. Last year, Target’s former CEO, Bryan Cornell, acknowledged the boycott’s significant impact on sales and foot traffic.
Bryant, who announced an end to his church’s boycott against Target in March, had heralded this past year’s efforts “the most successful, effective, and long-standing boycott of Black people in 70 years, since the Montgomery Bus Boycott.”
Turner was driving to an appointment in her hometown of Cleveland on Tuesday when she first learned about the company’s newest controversy. She expressed shock and anger during a call with Capital B Atlanta and reiterated calls for the Target boycott to continue indefinitely.
“I’m certainly going to call my partners that started out this [Target boycott] journey with me,” Turner said. “How many times they gotta keep telling us they don’t care about us? This is yet another iteration of companies like Target not even doing the simplest of due diligence.”
A spokesperson for Bryant declined to comment.
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