Why Jessica Alba’s Halloween post vanished after fans spotted the Nancy Kerrigan reference

Jessica Alba’s Halloween costume ended up getting almost as much attention as the party itself. The actor shared photos of a skating-themed look, but the post disappeared after people realised exactly which moment in sports history it was referencing.

Alba posted a Halloween carousel on Instagram with the caption, “Happy Halloween from Tonya … and Nancy,” alongside photos of herself dressed as Nancy Kerrigan. Her outfit included a white lace figure skating dress and a faux bloodied bandage around her knee.

Standing with her was friend Kelly Sawyer, dressed as Tonya Harding and holding a baseball bat. The pairing pointed to one of the most infamous episodes in figure skating, the 1994 attack on Kerrigan, who was struck on the knee with a police baton after a practice session at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The incident became one of the biggest talking points of that Olympic era. Kerrigan was attacked in a plan tied to Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and Shawn Eckhardt, who was described as Gillooly’s childhood friend. Harding denied having any involvement in planning the attack. She was later given a lifetime ban by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

That context is why Alba’s costume drew such a strong response online. For some people, the issue was not the skating theme itself, but that the look recreated a real assault that remains closely tied to Kerrigan’s career. Commenters called the costume “immature” and said they expected better from Alba. Others questioned why anyone would turn what they described as a traumatic moment that ended careers into a Halloween joke, with one person accusing Alba and Sawyer of making a costume out of a victim of an attack.

The criticism did not come from everyone. Some social media users said they did not see the problem and praised the costumes as clever. One person called them “brilliant costumes,” while others responded with clapping and laughing emojis. Another defender argued that so much time has passed, and the story has been adapted so often on screen, that the joke now seemed relatively mild.

Even with that split reaction, the photos did not stay up. The Instagram carousel was later deleted.

The costume was worn to Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun’s “Hockey Horror” Halloween party in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 31. Photos shared online from the event showed Alba posing on the ice as part of a celebrity-filled guest list.

Other attendees included Paul Wesley and his wife Natalie Kuckenburg, with Wesley dressed as Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th films. Brooks Nadar appeared as a “fembot” inspired by Austin Powers. Paris Hilton, Machine Gun Kelly, Salma Hayek and Natasha Lyonne were also among the stars at the party.

The backlash around Alba’s post landed at a moment when Harding herself has been speaking publicly about skating again. She said in a recent interview with KOIN 6 that she cannot “walk away” from the sport despite her ban.

Harding is scheduled to take part in “Tonya and Friends” on Saturday, December 12, in Vancouver, Washington, where she is set to skate for the public at Mountain View Ice Arena. In comments carried from that interview, she said she wants people to come out, have fun and enjoy a real skating show.

That made Alba’s costume choice feel especially jarring to some critics, because it revived a chapter of figure skating history that still carries heavy baggage. What might have been intended as a pop culture callback ended up turning into one of those Halloween posts where the reaction to the costume became the real story.