Ashley Benson Wears Unfortunate Halloween Costume, People Disapprove

Pretty Little Liars' Ashley Benson is a noted Halloween fan (see the photo in the gallery below for proof), but she may have gone to far when she floated a sexy, ~topical~ and ultimately tacky costume option: Cecil the Lion.

It's not that Ashley doesn't look fantastic — she definitely pulls off the fur hood and gold crushed-velvet look, and selecting the pants suit over the breezier leotard option (retailing for a jaw-dropping $118.95) was a sound choice. In her now-deleted original post (screen cap via Celebuzz) she asked, "What do you guys think of this Cecil the Lion costume?"

In Ashley's defense, this costume seems to be a basic, SEXY! lion costume that's been rebranded to reference the sin of our nation's most hated dentist and hunter, Walter Palmer. Thus, she maybe didn't need to actually *call* it a Cecil the Lion costume? Yet she did — and though she reposted the photo with an edited caption, some Instagram commenters caught the original error and chided her for the getup.

"Originally you called it 'Cecil the Lion!' #clueless #smh #insensitive," said Insta user @tina_is_so_awesome. Quoth @jeppy69 in a spirited debate with another commenter, "She's not just dressing up as a general lion. She's dressing up as a murdered lion. Please see the difference." @gxvsd offered, "How dare you make fun of a lion who innocently died from a inhuman act!" While it's probably safe to assume the Pretty Little Liar actress doesn't actually count "dead lion taunting" among her hobbies, her altered caption acknowledged the perceived misstep. 

Benson will likely settle on another ensemble for October 31st, but there will certainly be many, many other Cecils out there on Halloween — so if this bothers you, steel yourself for the number of cringeworthy couples you'll see masquerading as Cecil and the Dentist in a few weeks.

UNRELATED NOTE: How amazing is the wallpaper behind Ashley? It's a Day of the Dead-themed toile pattern that was custom made for a south Brooklyn restaurant, and you can feel free to buy a huge swath and send it to PopCrush HQ immediately.

Celebrity Halloween Costumes