Martha Stewart deletes Halloween photo showing her in tattered clothes

Martha Stewart posted and then deleted a Halloween photograph of herself in tattered clothes, dirt smeared across her face, holding a sign that read I AM HUNGRY HELP ME, after Instagram users had already saved copies of it.

The photograph had apparently been included in an Instagram carousel promoting candles Stewart sells on QVC, TMZ reported on Sunday. Several users captured screenshots before the post came down. On Reddit, where those screenshots recirculated, scores of people criticized the costume, with some calling it out of touch and others calling it offensive.

What the screenshots show

The circulating image shows Stewart standing outside her home in what appears to be deliberately distressed clothing, holding up a sign asking for food, with two of her dogs beside her, according to Fashion Times. TMZ described dirt smeared across her face. Reddit users read the picture as a portrayal of someone experiencing homelessness.

Accounts of the sign differ in detail. TMZ described a clipboard held up to the camera with the words I AM HUNGRY HELP ME on it, while Fashion Times described a cardboard sign carrying the same plea. TMZ characterized the costume as a hungry poor person.

The Reddit user who first posted the screenshots said the photograph had appeared alongside promotional content for the QVC candles and that comments on the Instagram post had been turned off, Fashion Times reported. The same poster said the image disappeared shortly after users began reacting to it. Another commenter said it had been added to the end of an existing promotional post rather than published as a separate Halloween announcement.

No account has established when the post went up or how long it stayed on Stewart's page before it was removed.

Why the post drew criticism

Critics accused Stewart of making light of homelessness and of the hardships facing people living in poverty. Some commenters called the image distasteful and argued that homelessness should not be treated as a joke or a costume concept, Fashion Times reported. Others said they could not tell what the photograph was supposed to be.

The gap between Stewart's wealth and the subject of the picture ran through much of the criticism. For some, the objection was not the costume itself but the sense that a lived hardship had been turned into entertainment. Harsher posts questioned her judgment, and some said the image could trivialize hunger and the circumstances that leave people without stable housing.

TMZ puts Stewart's net worth at an estimated $400 million, a figure it set beside the caption in its report.

My QVC candles are perfect for Halloween!!!

The caption promoted the candles and said nothing about the costume.

Origin of the photo disputed

The Reddit user who posted the screenshots said the image had appeared on Stewart's personal Instagram account before it was removed, but also said they could not rule out that it had been generated by artificial intelligence or that the account had been accessed without her permission, according to Fashion Times.

It is not clear whether Stewart chose and uploaded the photograph herself, whether someone managing her social media accounts added it to the carousel, or whether the image was digitally generated. None of those three possibilities has been ruled out.

Who removed the post, and why, has not been independently confirmed, and no verified explanation has identified the character the costume was meant to represent.

Without confirmation of the image's origin and purpose, Fashion Times reported, the reading that Stewart deliberately dressed as a homeless person for Halloween should not be treated as an established account of her plans.

From Instagram to Reddit

The photograph left Instagram as a set of saved images rather than a live post. It recirculated on Reddit, where scores of users criticized the costume, and by Sunday it had moved on to celebrity gossip forums, including a thread posted on Lipstick Alley.

TMZ said it had asked Stewart's representative for comment and had not received a response by the time it published its report on Sunday. No statement from Stewart about the photograph or the costume has been published since.

Stewart's past Halloween costumes

Stewart, 85, treats Halloween as a production rather than an afterthought. Her looks are usually theatrical, built with professional stylists and costume designers and shot by photographers, Fashion Times reported, and she has documented the transformations regularly over the years.

Previous years have brought an ensemble inspired by Queen Elizabeth I, a sorceress costume and a ghostly equestrienne look built around a black riding-inspired outfit and a top hat. She has also appeared as a character called Motha, in a platinum-blonde wig and elaborate feathered eyelashes, for a Halloween special.

Two days earlier on Today

Stewart appeared on the Today show on Friday, October 30, as the program marked NBC's 100th anniversary with four hours of Halloween programming. She came as herself at the Olympics, in a white outfit with an American flag shirt, and greeted Craig Melvin, dressed as Snoop Dogg, with "Hello, Snoop!" He answered, "What's cookin', Martha?"

During a cooking segment, Stewart showed Melvin, Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly how to decorate a cheesecake with a spiderweb design. Melvin spotted a piping bag of chocolate ganache beneath the dessert, picked it up, and spilled it onto Stewart's white pants as he tried to pass it to her, Reality Tea reported. She scolded him with one word, "Snoop!"

Melvin covered his mouth and apologized. Daly joked that it was a good thing the two were best friends, and Stewart answered, "Real Snoop would never do that." Melvin replied, "No, for shizzle."

Melvin put a number on it later in the morning, telling her, "I just feel so bad that I destroyed your $3000 pants." Stewart replied, "Don't worry about it, they wash." She had called the rapper her BFF earlier in the segment, and Melvin had told her, "You are the gin to my juice." He also pointed out a stain on her shoe.

What the record shows

What exists of the deleted post is a set of user screenshots showing the costume, the sign and the caption above it. The post itself cannot now be inspected, its timestamp is not recorded in any published account, and the comment settings described by the Reddit poster cannot be verified.

No explanation has been published for why the photograph appeared alongside a product promotion, or who approved it. Until that is answered, the costume is attributed to Stewart only on the strength of screenshots taken by people who saw the post before it came down.