--- title: Shaun White Apologizes for Simple Jack Halloween Costume description: Shaun White has issued an apology after his Halloween costume was criticized as offensive by the Special Olympics. canonical: https://time.com/5439086/shaun-white-special-olympics-costume/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-30T16:42:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T16:45:54.000Z og:title: Shaun White Under Fire for Offensive Halloween Costume og:description: “It was a last minute decision. It was the wrong one" og:url: https://time.com/5439086/shaun-white-special-olympics-costume/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34b8b6402bf2926d/69893dcf7cdbac3ca2d5e4bd/shaun-white-halloween-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Shaun-White-Halloween-2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shaun White Under Fire for Offensive Halloween Costume twitter:description: “It was a last minute decision. It was the wrong one" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34b8b6402bf2926d/69893dcf7cdbac3ca2d5e4bd/shaun-white-halloween-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shaun White Came Under Fire for His 'Special Jack' Halloween Costume > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d7f6fa63-c5c0-4e80-bdd3-78f943d792d0&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:45 PM UTCPublished: Oct 30, 2018 4:42 PM UTC  Shaun White speaks onstage during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards which broadcasted live on TBS, TNT, and truTV at The Forum on March 11, 2018 in Inglewood, California. Shaun White speaks onstage during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards which broadcasted live on TBS, TNT, and truTV at The Forum on March 11, 2018 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 4:45 PM UTCPublished: Oct 30, 2018 4:42 PM UTC [Shaun White](http://time.com/5156699/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-olympics/) has [apologized](http://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/) for a [Halloween costume](http://time.com/5414128/best-celebrity-halloween-costumes-2018/) that was criticized as offensive by the Special Olympics. The Special Olympics issued a statement denouncing White’s actions after the three-time Olympic gold medalist posted a now-deleted Instagram photo of himself dressed as “Simple Jack,” a character with disabilities played by Ben Stiller in the 2008 movie _Tropic Thunder_. “We are truly disappointed that Shaun White, an acclaimed Olympian, would choose this costume, which is so offensive and causes so much pain,” Soeren Palumbo, co-founder of the Special Olympics’ Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign, told the [Huffington Post](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shaun-white-special-olympics-simple-jack-costume%5Fus%5F5bd74b74e4b055bc948f08dc). “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.” > [](https://twitter.com/HuffPostSports/status/1057010995309223937) On Monday, White took to his social media accounts to apologize for the “insensitive” costume. “I owe everyone in the Special Olympics community an apology for my poor choice of Halloween costume the other night,” White wrote. “It was a last minute decision. It was the wrong one. The Special Olympics are right to call me out on it. They do great work supporting many tremendous athletes and I am so sorry for being insensitive. Lesson learned.” > [](https://twitter.com/shaunwhite/status/1057044680246841345) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5439086/shaun-white-special-olympics-costume/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5439086/shaun-white-special-olympics-costume/"},"headline":"Shaun White Came Under Fire for His 'Special Jack' Halloween Costume","datePublished":"2018-10-30T16:42:02.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T16:45:54.000Z","description":"“It was a last minute decision. 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