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Target Apologizes After Backlash over 'Offensive' Halloween Costume
Target apologized after removing the costume, which critics said evoked Jim Crow-era minstrel caricatures and deepened concerns over its diversity rollback.
- Retailer Target Corporation pulled a children's Halloween costume from shelves on Monday after widespread social media backlash, apologizing for selling a garment critics said evoked racist minstrel caricatures.
- Rev. Jamal Bryant, a Georgia pastor who led a 40-day boycott last year, called the item a "profoundly harmful symbol of racism."
- Shares of the corporation closed at $163.47 on Tuesday, dropping 3.78%. The stock is up roughly 63% this year despite recent controversies and previous market losses of roughly $12.4 billion.
- CEO Michael Fiddelke is currently investing $1 billion in 2026 operations as part of a turnaround strategy. The firm previously joined companies like Walmart and McDonald’s in rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
- Retail analyst Bruce Winder noted that inventory errors "can happen to the best of them." Winder emphasized that taking accountability was the "most important thing.
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Target apologizes for ‘offensive’ costume
Target is facing backlash for selling a children’s Halloween costume depicting a circus clown that critics said evoked blackface and minstrel shows. The company announced it pulled the item and acknowledged the issue in an apology.
·Atlanta, United States
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97.9 The Beat
97.9 The BeatBlackface For Halloween? Target Costume Causes Uproar
Scott Olson Although Target had the foresight to get ahead of the Halloween season by stacking up on costumes, they couldn’t possibly have predicted the recent backlash in response to a minstrel-looking “clown” option that gave shoppers a ghoulish shock. Now that the offensive costume has been removed from shelves, many have been wondering whether an apology is enough from a brand once again on the wrong side of a race debate. RELATED: Black Fo…
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Total News Sources31
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center28Last UpdatedBias Distribution97% Center
Bias Distribution
- 97% of the sources are Center
97% Center
C 97%
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