MINNEAPOLIS -- Target pulled a Halloween costume from its website after social media users said it resembled racist caricatures historically used to demean Black people.

The controversy lands as the Minneapolis-based retailer has shown signs of regaining momentum with shoppers, including stronger recent sales after a difficult stretch marked in part by backlash over its DEI retreat.

The costume was part of Hyde and EEK! Boutique, a Target-owned Halloween brand, raising questions about how the item made it through the company’s product review process.

The costume, which was meant for children, had the general design of a clown outfit with orange and black patterns, but it also included a mask that imposed a large grin over the wearer’s face. A small top hat was also included.

The costume’s model on the retailer’s website appeared to be a Black child. The costume and the posture of the model in the photo drew comparisons online to images of the racist theatrical character Jim Crow, a staple in blackface minstrel shows, which dehumanized Black people.

“As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry,” a Target spokesman said in a statement. “The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners.”

“Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again,” the company continued in its statement.

Toopan Bagchi, a former Target executive who now works as an independent consultant, said he thought the offense was likely unintended and the company responded well to the concerns raised.

“I think there’s some room for interpretation over what is this image,” he said. “If it’s offensive, absolutely the right thing to do is to pull it. But I think there’s also some degree of latitude for, like, it’s an honest mistake.”

Some in Minnesota disagree.

Sheletta Brundidge, CEO of her own marketing and media company, said the model’s pose, the costume’s design and the number of people who approved the product’s launch show that Target’s decision was intentional. Until they hire more Black people in executive positions or support more Black businesses, Brundidge asked local businesses to stop supporting Target.

“We have had a president in the White House. We have had a Black U.S. attorney general. We have done more in this country than anyone has ever thought we would ever accomplish coming over here as enslaved people, and you want to take us back to the cotton field with this Halloween costume? Not on my watch,” Brundidge said.

This isn’t the first time Target has pulled products from its shelves after public backlash.

In February 2024, the retailer pulled a Black History Month magnetic learning activity from stores and its website after a history teacher demonstrated in a widely shared TikTok video that the product mismatched the names and images of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois and Carter G. Woodson. That product, unlike the Halloween costume, was made by a third-party manufacturer.

Target scaled back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives a year later. That decision led to widespread boycotts, which were renewed more recently by the American Federation of Teachers, which said the retailer refused to “stand up to ICE” during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.

The company has shown signs of a turnaround in recent months. Last week, Target reported that comparable sales for the May-through-July period rose 3.8% and that transactions increased by roughly the same amount.

Target also removed some of its Pride merchandise in 2023 in response to threats and “confrontational behavior” at certain stores.

Other retailers have also pulled merchandise that critics deemed racially insensitive, discriminatory or offensive after public backlash and social media protests. H&M faced widespread backlash and accusations of racism in 2018 after publishing an online advertisement featuring a Black child modeling a green hooded sweatshirt bearing the words “coolest monkey in the jungle.”

Three years earlier, Walmart pulled a children’s Halloween costume depicting an Israeli soldier and a latex prosthetic nose described on the website as a “Sheik Fagan Nose.”

____

Staff writer Kyeland Jackson contributed reporting.

____

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.