I remember, back in the 1950s, going as a "hobo" was as common as going as a witch or a ghost. But in the 2020s, it's so obviously insensitive that one wonders how she could have thought it was a good idea. My theory is that she thought her own real-life image was so strongly the opposite of a homeless man that everyone would get it. She's incredibly neat and put together and made up and smiling, not smudged with dirt and disheveled. And she would never need help getting food. She's a provider of food, always helping others cook and arrange food. So — ha ha — she's going as the opposite of Martha Stewart.Compare Donald Trump, going as Donald Trump to his Mar-a-Lago Halloween party. He said he only had 10 minutes to get ready. But if he'd had a little more time, maybe he'd have come up with Martha's idea and assembled a costume that would read as the opposite of Donald Trump. What would that be? Undo his usual hairstyle. Wipe the orange off of his face, if it comes off. Get rid of the red tie and boxy suit and go with baggy shorts and an oversized t-shirt with that big Obama logo.Martha Stewart addresses her homeless person Halloween costume in statement to Page Six: “I am distressed that my Halloween costume yesterday, which was intended to bring more awareness to the very serious subject of homelessness, has offended people, which was never my intention. […] Homelessness continues to remain one of America’s greatest challenges and ongoing crises, something that I care deeply about and I have spent a significant amount of time and effort supporting charities that combat this ongoing social epidemic.” (https://t.co/cuZF2B1tv0)
— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 1, 2026
See? That would be funny.But Martha as the opposite of Martha... not funny.
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--- I remember, back in the 1950s, going as a "hobo" was as common as going as a witch or a ghost
Maybe because there weren't any hoboes left by then.
The answer to her critics ought to be.
I have white skin.
So I am privileged, according to some people.
Even if I am homeless.
People on the left! Roll down the windows of your BMWs and tell the white homeless man how privileged he is.
Watch Out For the Humble Brag
A hobo is not the same as a homeless person. One is itinerant with no fixed address who travels looking for work. The other has no home, is not (usually) working, and tends not to move around as much.
Maybe Martha should have gone out in an orange jumpsuit. Or maybe the striped pajamas from the old cartoons.
Now all the Envy Outrage Chatter. It's a Halloween costume, FFS.
Her only mistake was to publish a picture of it.
So if I dressed as Boxcar Willie, will I be cancelled?
Last Sunday, President Trump announced that he didn’t want Norwegian immigrants coming to America because Norway had failed to give him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Venting his frustration, the president also declared, “Norway sucks” and called it a “shithouse country.” These remarks apparently came as news to Norway’s approximately 5.6 million citizens, who have been quietly going about the business of living in one of the world’s wealthiest, healthiest, happiest, and most successful democracies.~ The Bulwark
It blew my 3rd grade mind to see my cute-as-a-button crush come to the front door trick-or-treating dressed as a hobo looking hideous with burnt cork on her face and the fright wig and everything but the pillowcase for a trick-or-treat bag pulled it all together.
gadfly has taken the lead in the 2027 Althouse Awards race for Most Off-topic Comment in 2026.
Good job of portraiture by Professora. Monetize it.
Funny that many of her critics aren't using the appropriate term. The appropriate term is "unhoused" bigots.
#Dobetterbigots. Do better.
@Althouse, here I thought your name was Ann, not Karen. You can resign from the humor police at any time.
Hobos are 20% of the homeless. Crazy 40%, addict 30%. Out of luck 10%. Mnemonic CATO (T=tramp)
Dress up as easily offended. There's something to mock.
I think most people know what she was aiming for. In fact, they feign ignorance in direct replies to the X post above where she SPECIFICIALLY STATES HER INTENT, some saying "What was she thinking??" She just told you, dummy.
I've expended all patience with calculated outrage.
The Donald protype is missing its sidekick, the multi-pierced purple-haired liberal overweight woman in jeans and tshirt minus the bra, with her "No Kings" protest sign. Plenty of them lounging in our rural city, outraged at Trump, while boisterously supporting our brainless boy-child mayor created by our two purple-haired Dem chairladies.
She was missing the crack pipe.
"She's a provider of food..." Obviously not to poor people.
Why is anybody supposed to worry about hurting the feelings of bums by dressing as one on Halloween?
Once I was driving back to the suburbs after a business dinner in Chicago. I had about 2lbs of great sushi. We ordered way too much, I was young, so the older guys all told me to take it home.
On the way home, I saw a guy with a sign that said "Need Money for Food." I pulled over, told him I had 2lbs of Sushi he could have. I opened the lid, he looked at it, and he said..."Nahhh, that's ok."
"Hobos are 20% of the homeless."
Way less than that I think. I think the official data puts the insane/drug-addicted cohort of the homeless somewhere around 95%. IOW if they're homeless they're nuts, addicted, or both. There is a very small number of people that confirmedly choose the vagabond lifestyle, and there's a lot of Vets in that cohort. Outside of PTSD, they are not deranged and surprisingly straight-edge. They tend to congregate in off-grid communities that move about on public land and NFS & BLM tends to leave them alone because they are mostly well-behaved, very independent, and very well-armed.
I think the "I'm Hungry" on the sign she is holding adds insult to injury. She's NEVER been hungry. Not even in prison.
Now, if she wore an orange, or black and white prison suit, that would be funny, and Martha would have been praised for being self-deprecating.
Why is Martha Stewart, age 85, dressing up in a costume for Halloween?
"See? That would be funny."
Not really. Now if he did it in blackface, that would be hilarious.
That rendering makes Trump look like Pat Murphy
None of these homeless people are hungry. They all want drugs.
Empathy.
"California spends approximately $42,000 annually per homeless person based on data analyzed from state-level funding programs."
"Executive Compensation Controversies: At the executive level, salaries are much higher. Public audits and investigative reports have drawn scrutiny to instances where non-profit CEOs managing state-funded contracts received compensation packages exceeding half a million dollars annually, or in rare controversial cases, over $1.5 million while working remotely
Seems like we need new management.
Personally, big supporter of locking up addicts for a month. Long enough to kick physical addiction. Some will stay clean, some will not. Better than encouraging their addiction, which California does with few arrests and little jail and free needles.
Seems only time a dealer is held responsible is whe a celebrity ODs. In those cases, dealer provides medical level drugs and celeb decides to take more than usual. Unlike street level, where today.s hit could be twice as powerful as yesterdays.
No problem, Martha. We all know more subsidized housing and some rent control will fix the "housing crisis" that causes homelessness. Right? /s
She didn't dress up as a homeless person to bring awareness to that issue. That is a total load of barnacles. Marth Stewart suffers from a problem that a lot of the people, who consider themselves to be elites, have. She has no self awareness. She doesn't understand how other people see her. She has a commercial, that has been running online lately, Where the first thing that she says is "I like rules." And then she goes on to say that she likes to keep her "options" open. All I could think to myself was, who thought that was a good idea? She spent time in prison for lying to the Feds, conspiracy and obstruction over a stock market deal.
There are a lot of tarnished celebrities who just need to fade away and disappear from the public eye....but their egos won't let them. (I'm also looking at you, Dan Rather.)
Gusty Winds said...
"Sushi"
To be fair. Sushi makes me gag. I couldn't force it down if my life depended on it.
"None of these homeless people are hungry. They all want drugs."
Before you (and a lot of others on this thread, Althouse included) post such ignorant, cruel statements, spend one day (a full eight hour shift) at a homeless shelter. You might learn how fucking stupid and ignorant you are.
So what?? It is Halloween. Are they mad that she didn't dress as a gym whore instead??
gadfly said...
Last Sunday, President Trump announced that he didn’t want Norwegian immigrants coming to America because Norway had failed to give him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Venting his frustration, the president also declared, “Norway sucks” and called it a “shithouse country.” These remarks apparently came as news to Norway’s approximately 5.6 million citizens, who have been quietly going about the business of living in one of the world’s wealthiest, healthiest, happiest, and most successful democracies.~ The Bulwark
11/2/26, 9:20 AM
What in the world does this crap have to do with Martha's costume. Please get help. You can't think of anybody but Trump. That's on you.
What's going on with her knee?
"You might learn how fucking stupid and ignorant you are."
The correct term is "unhoused shelter", Fredo.
#DoBetter Fredo. Do better.
The image was part of an Instagram carousel promoting her QVC candles, captioned along the lines of “My QVC candles are perfect for Halloween!!!”
loudogblog said...
“She didn't dress up as a homeless person to bring awareness to that issue.”
I think you’re right.
...there always has to be a costume that upsets. In my day it was going as Jesus or the white guys doing Mr T. Sexy nurse or witch is always a good one, nobody I mean nobody gets to go as Barack. It's always to style to shit on Martha with her perfect homemaker crap and her insider trading and stuff...
...yes, I went as Jesus. My friend took a wonderful photo of me for the yearbook which was summarily nixed but the picture made the slide deck at senior night. It got the biggest roar of the night and I took a bow. Thanks mates...then a few our fathers...
A Fleetwood Mac band member went "black face" in the 70's.
Certain taboos are moving targets.
Martha Stewart? I thought she was dead.
Well, Martha is an ex-con, after all.
"Unhoused Person" please, Professor.
And you, a Madisonian!
That's an expensive Irish wool sweater for a hungry begging homeless person.
Way to spead/share the bigotry, annie.
You two must be so proud of yourselves...
The last shall be first, and the first last, remember...
Shouldn't Hoboken NJ have to change the city's name then?
And Barbie's boyfriend, HoboKen.
A hobo would have been more acceptable. When you go out for Halloween as a hobo, you're going out as a '50s kid going out as a hobo. The kid and the hobo are part of Americana. It's the sign that did Martha Stewart in. I can't read the words on hers, but I've seen enough of those heartbreaking cardboard signs. Martha ought to have known better.
Custom designed to tug on the 'ol heartstrings...at least until you see them get picked up by their handler in an Audi.
My sister once went as a particular well known and easily recognizable local homeless man. It was a bit awkward. It was much more fun when she dressed as a real estate agent and my elderly father wondered who the hell had invited this obnoxious woman to our get together. She even fooled me. Wigs do amazing things.
Why did Martha Stewart think it would work to go as a homeless person for Halloween?
She assumed people knew her and believed that her good intentions were obvious.
Well, the conventional wisdom answer is that Stewart is a SWPLy rich White woman and who lives inside the richy richy bubble of metro NYC and therefore she doesn't understand. My view is that she's a sociopathic Marie Antoinette type who just DGAF. The first is a DSA tier analysis while the latter is my own working class, street prole analysis FWIW, but notice they both arrive at the same conclusion. I hope Stewart meets the same conclusion as the French Queen did TBH.
The “help me I’m hungry” sign was what caused it to blow up.
*You might learn how fucking stupid and ignorant you are.*
Who are we to believe? Freder or our own lying eyes?
And again, no matter the subject ... Freder shows his ass.
They don't let you in a homeless shelter if you're high, Freder. You, however, are free to house as many as you like.
Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
I don't like to criticize people like Martha Stewart. Yes I know she has had in many ways a privileged life. And her politics are selfish and wack. But she has suffered a lot and has earned the right to have an opinion on homeless people, some of whom have suffered less than her.
No one really cares about the homeless. They might care about airing their own virtue or grifting off Uncle Sucka, but the homeless? Please.
On a slightly unrelated note, I’ve been wondering if the zombie craze of the last decade or two wasn’t inspired by the explosion of the homeless population. Driving to work in the pre-dawn I pass a homeless shelter just as they’re turning their charges out. Many begin their walk to the Union Gospel for breakfast, walking against traffic in twos and threes in the mist and gloaming. Very zombie-like.
Yawn. Manufactured controversy from Martha Kostyra. "It's a good thing."
And just like that. Freder disappears into the mist of ink.
Anybody who thinks the homeless are some poor, misunderstood, oppressed minority hasn't been to LA.
You know those storm drains in the coastal towns that say, " Drains into the ocean"? Those are homeless toilets.
Mueller
"Hobo" was the go-to costume for kids my age in the 70s when they ran out of costume ideas. Every house had clothes that could be scruffed up a bit to make a suitable costume.
I wonder why hobo costumes are so obviously insensitive now. When I was a kid, I probably was thinking more about the itinerant life style versus drunken homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness, etc. Hobos were all over the cartoons we watched, too. Maybe society still remembered Depression-era hobo-culture back then, since there were still a lot of people who directly lived through it. Now "homelessness" has been medicalized into a big money industry, so don't go out there stigmatizing the participants in the manufactured crisis!
"But in the 2020s, it's so obviously insensitive "
Will someone please explain why it is true and also explain who decides what is "obviously insensitive"? There is so much going on for which that seems to be true but is allowed and encouraged.
Engaging the feelings of others is part of the point in wearing a costume. That some people have feelings with extra helpings of outrage over nothing is the issue here, not the costume.
Not funny. Bad taste. Sure.
Cause for getting all wee-wee'd up? Nope.
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