Diddy to the Menendez brothers: why controversial Halloween costumes endure

In the first episode of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Lyle passes four people on Halloween dressed as he and his brother killing their parents with shotguns. It’s a gruesome and shocking tableau, drawn from real life and that captured the world’s attention.

This may be a scene from a show, but it’s nonetheless familiar. Controversial costumes have become a mainstay of Halloween, from people dressing as cult leader Charles Manson to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Menendez brothers are a popular costume choice this Halloween. Does that cross a line?Credit: Miles Crist/Netflix

This year, one of the more controversial costume choices appears to be Sean “Diddy” Combs, the rapper who has been indicted for multiple charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering. Videos on TikTok (which have since been removed) show people dressed as Combs at one of his notorious White Parties, some even appearing in blackface. Others show people dressed as baby oil, referencing the bottles recovered from Combs’ properties during searches by authorities earlier this year.

And, as if the show foresaw it, there have also been videos of people dressing up as the Menendez brothers – convicted killers and sexual assault victims.

Lauren Rosewarne, associate professor in the school of social and political sciences at Melbourne University, says the motives behind controversial costumes can differ. Some may simply feel connected to certain pop-cultural figures. Others may see it as an opportunity to go viral on social media, or as an effective form of dark humour.

“For 99.9 per cent of people, it wouldn’t be deeper than this,” she says. “It’s important to note that it’s not necessarily an endorsement of the person. It’s not like wearing a band shirt, which usually means you like the band. On Halloween, it’s showing their fascination, or perhaps they’re playing with ideas of evil and scariness.”

Well-intentioned, dark humour can act as a coping strategy, says Dr James Collett, a psychology senior lecturer at RMIT. It can also provide novelty, or a break from social conventions.

“Laughter can be a powerful technique in positive psychology,” he says. “But sometimes it just brings greater attention to something that we perhaps shouldn’t be laughing at because that might diminish its seriousness.”

This is why context is imperative. For example, six Greater Western Sydney players were suspended after a “controversial couples”-themed event earlier this month, which saw some players – public, influential figures – dress as the former New York twin towers, and another as former NRL player Jarryd Hayne, who was convicted of sexual assault offences and sentenced to a prison term in 2023 before the conviction was quashed on appeal and the charges formally dropped.

“It’s always a balance between censorship and thinking about the person’s intention for the costume, as well as the background of the people receiving it,” Collett says. “And remember that if someone takes a photo of you and posts it, it could end up all over the world.”

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