Julia Fox Defends “Tasteless” Bloody Jackie Kennedy Halloween Costume After Backlash
Jackie O-no! Julia Fox is raising eyebrows for her viral Halloween costume where the actress-model dressed up as a bloody Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis after she survived the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy (see video of Fox modeling the suit, below). The Uncut Gems and Him actress wore a replica of Onassis’ famous…
Jackie O-no!
Julia Fox is raising eyebrows for her viral Halloween costume where the actress-model dressed up as a bloody Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis after she survived the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy (see video of Fox modeling the suit, below).
The Uncut Gems and Him actress wore a replica of Onassis’ famous pink suit and pillbox hat complete with “blood” stains while attending a Halloween party in New York City on Thursday for The Cursed Amulet game.
Onassis was wearing the suit with JFK when he was gunned down while riding in a motorcade in Dallas in 1963. She famously refused to change her clothes before standing next to vice president Lyndon B. Johnson during his swearing-in ceremony aboard Air Force One. She was quoted as stating: “No, let them see what they’ve done to Jack.”
Fox’s costume is certainly clever — and on brand for Halloween — if not exactly tasteful. According to Parade, some of the backlash online included comments such as, “This is wildly inappropriate. Everything that’s wrong with this world,” “Tragedy is not a costume” and “The most tasteless thing I’ve ever seen.”
After the backlash, Fox posted a statement on Instagram defending the outfit, calling it “not a costume, but a statement.”
“When her husband was assassinated, she refused to change out of her blood-stained clothes, saying, ‘I want them to see what they’ve done,’” she said. “The image of the delicate pink suit splattered with blood is one of the most haunting juxtapositions in modern history. Beauty and horror. Poise and devastation. Her decision not to change clothes, even after being encouraged to, was an act of extraordinary bravery. It was performance, protest and mourning all at once. A woman weaponizing image and grace to expose brutality. It’s about trauma, power and how femininity itself is a form of resistance. Long live Jackie O.”
The 35-year-old has a history of provocative statements and outfits — including two just this month. There was an incident during a press conference where she repeatedly interrupted her Him co-star Marlon Wayans when he used the term “real men” to discuss toxic masculinity (“But what are real men?” she asked. “Cause every time a man does some fuck shit, they’ll be like, ‘That’s not a real man!’ And it’s like, ‘Looks like a man to me.’” And Fox wore a “barely there” dress to the Liberatum Cultural Honour Gala.
Fox wrote in The New York Times last year a “guide to being a freak,” noting it’s never worth it to be normal. “I remember being in fifth grade [on New York’s Upper East Side] and being exhausted from trying to pretend to be normal all the time … It’s not easier [to try] to be normal … eventually freaks are like, “I’m going to be myself and live my truth because I can’t pretend anymore.” Pretending is draining; it’s exhausting; it’s depression. Being a freak’s not an easy thing, but it can be a very beautiful thing.”
