Martha Stewart faced sharp criticism from Pose actress Indya Moore on Sunday after the 85-year-old lifestyle mogul dressed as a hungry, homeless person for Halloween on Instagram.
The 31-year-old transgender star publicly rebuked the multimillionaire businesswoman in social media posts one day after the holiday, calling her initial excuse for the outfit unbelievable.
Stewart sparked backlash on Saturday when she posted an Instagram image showing her in a flannel shirt with simulated dirt caked on her face while holding a sign reading: "I AM HUNGRY HELP ME!!"
The photo was included in a carousel promoting her holiday and Halloween candles for the television shopping network QVC, which she captioned: "My QVC candles are perfect for Halloween!!!!!"
Martha Stewart's initial Halloween costume explanation
Following a wave of disapproval from fans, Stewart defended the costume in the comments section of a Just Jared Instagram post.
"My costume was designed to bring the homeless and the hungry to everyone's mind and boy it certainly did!!!" Stewart wrote. "But not in the correct way, because I did not explain it and I am so sorry I care and I support causes who care. Do all of you???"
Stewart built her lifestyle and homekeeping empire through Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, authoring cookbooks and selling home products through retailers including QVC. Moore is an actor and model best known for playing Angel Evangelista on the FX drama series Pose, which depicted New York City's ballroom culture.
Indya Moore's response to Martha Stewart
Moore hit back in the comments on the same Just Jared Instagram post on Sunday. "We all make mistakes. I certainly do. I try my best to correct them, not just with explanations but with more active support around the actual issue I may be contributing to," Moore stated.
"But this is a really tough one for me: Halloween has never been a time when people dress up as a demographic in need to raise awareness for them. Halloween is caricature: monsters, villains, idols. People do not dress up as groups who are in crisis," she continued.
"This is why your excuse is not believable for so many people. It actually seems like you're using the anger of people who have actually been hungry as proof your costume worked," the actress stressed, adding: "It also seems like you apologizing for not writing a caption and our subsequent failure to understand the outfit," rather than "because you wore it."
"'I care and I support causes who care.' Which ones? Because you and your friends alone could probably end hunger across your entire state if you wanted to. A rich woman dressing up as a hungry, homeless person brings more awareness to how out of touch and apathetic wealth makes people than it does motivate people to empathize and activate," Moore wrote.
Criticism of wealth and poverty awareness claims
"If you were serious about poverty, you'd use your platform to back policies that tax the rich, put free food in front of people who are hungry and homeless, and provide free healthcare and education. 'I support causes' is not a great response to people asking you to show your work," Moore added.
Moore then shared the same statement across several Instagram Stories slides before posting a series of videos discussing the culture of shaming the impoverished.
"Most of the people following you are not wealthy," Moore said of the lifestyle guru's 3.1 million followers. "They are far closer to poverty than you are. So when they question the intentions of a wealthy white woman wearing poverty as a costume, that is a fair question."
"Flipping it back on them is passive-aggressive and insulting. An apology that ends in an interrogation of people you offended isn't an apology, it's a manipulative counterattack," she argued.
"You turned a question about your judgement into an inquiry of your followers' loyalty. Given how the wealthy treat the hungry and homeless in this country, abandoning them, shaming them, fear-mongering about them, you should have known this would offend a lot of people," Moore concluded before signing off with her first and last name.
Martha Stewart's second apology on Instagram
On Sunday evening, Stewart issued a second apology on her personal Instagram account, sharing a screenshot from the iPhone Notes app.
"It's hard to admit when you've really screwed up. My earlier statement didn't go far enough. I know many people are suffering economically," Stewart wrote. "Wearing a costume like I did was insensitive and not funny. I am very sorry. Martha."
Divided fan reaction to the Notes app statement
"Hundreds of people on your professional team, as well as countless friends... no one warned you? And then to post this notes app statement withdrawal. I mean I'll always love ya girl but whew," one disappointed fan wrote in the comments.
Another upset follower weighed in: "Is this account even real? Like seriously? I worked in PR for 25+ years and the way this situation was handled was amateurish at best. Take a look around you. Hard-working people can't afford rent and/or groceries. You have the ability to make a positive difference, but instead you made the poor choice to mock the homeless."
"My professional advice? Ditch your PR team because they aren't doing you any favors. Issue a sincere apology. Make a substantial donation to a homeless shelter. In other words, use your celebrity to help people instead of shaming them," the follower continued.
Others defended Stewart. "Girl! I dressed like a hobo 1981, I carried a Pepsi bottle in a brown paper bag to look like booze, and I had a bandanna on a stick with some clothes in it. There's way bigger fish to fry in life. We love you.❤️," one supporter wrote.
"Leave her alone," another supporter reasoned, noting that "she's literally 85 years old and apologizing. Let people take accountability for their mistakes or else what is being human and what is the point of being a community if we don't let people learn?! It was an offensive Halloween costume, not murder and she's taking accountability and apologizing. What more do you all want?! People make mistakes and learn from it."
