Is This Celeb’s Costume the Most Offensive of Halloween 2018?
Some celebrities should seriously require sensitivity training before picking out their annual Halloween costumes.
The latest offender to all things politically correct and humanly decent? Shaun White.
Over the weekend, the pro athlete dressed up as Simple Jack, a character played by Ben Stiller in 2008 meta-action-comedy film Tropic Thunder, which even ten years ago was frowned upon for its insensitive portrayal of individuals who have developmental disorders and other disabilities.
After being met with a wave of criticism, including from Soeren Palumbo, the co-founder of the Special Olympics, White issued an apology for wearing the costume.
"I owe everyone in the Special Olympics community an apology for my poor choice of Halloween costume the other night. It was a last minute decision. It was the wrong one," White wrote in a statement issued to multiple media outlets.
"The Special Olympics are right to call me out on it," he continued. "They do great work supporting many tremendous athletes and I am so sorry for being insensitive. Lesson learned."
White also removed a photo of the costume from his Instagram account.
"We are truly disappointed that Shaun White, an acclaimed Olympian, would choose this costume which is so offensive and causes so much pain," Palumbo explained in a statement to The Huffington Post on Monday (October 29). "Disability is not a joke nor should it be a punchline. We hope that Shaun White and others learn that this just continues stigma, stereotypes and discrimination."