'Karen' Halloween Costume Criticized for 'Profiting' Off Racism

'Karen' Halloween Costume Criticized for 'Profiting' Off Racism

By Paper Magazine
Oct 08, 2021

A new Halloween costume is going viral and not for a good reason.

This past weekend, a Twitter user called @thecroakerqueen posted a photo of a "Karen" costume — blonde wig, sunglasses and all — currently being sold at Spirit stores across the nation. And though this isn't the first meme-inspired offering to hit the market, it's already become a topic of discussion on social media, with many commenters criticizing the costume for making a stupid joke out of an ongoing issue that can potentially lead to police violence against Black bodies.

Related | 'SoHo Karen' Charged with Hate Crime

In response to the original tweet, several people called out the retailer for trivializing racism and making "everything involving our experiences... a joke," as @kdotice wrote.

Meanwhile, a user named @AsAaronSpeaks expressed his dislike for the costume in a viral tweet by writing, "I don't like how they're profiting from the very real issue of racism."

And echoing this sentiment was another person tweeting under the handle @nnekawith2ns, who (rightfully) called the costume "super wack."

"Absolutely nothing funny about a whole species of people that put Black people in danger of losing their lives with a simple phone call," they said, likely referencing the number of high-profile "Karen" incidents involving Black people, such as "SoHo Karen" Miya Ponsetto and "Central Park Karen" Amy Cooper, who called the police on a Black birdwatcher named Christian Cooper.

Spirit, however, has yet to respond to the criticism.

Photo via TikTok / @gucchiara

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