Shaun White Apologizes For His Controversial Halloween Costume

Shaun White issued an apology on Twitter for his thoughtless Halloween costume on Monday, Oct. 29.

“I owe everyone in the Special Olympics community an apology for my poor choice of Halloween costume the other night,” the three-time Olympic gold medalist posted  to Twitter. “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.”

The acclaimed Olympian dressed as “Simple Jack,” a mentally disabled character from the movie “Tropic Thunder.” When the movie was released in 2008, director Ben Stiller came under fire for the character’s insensitivity to disability groups.

Shaun’s decision to go as Simple Jack to a Halloween party disappointed special needs parents and members from the Special Olympics, ensuing his apology.

“We are truly disappointed that Shaun White, an acclaimed Olympian, would choose this costume which is so offensive and causes so much pain,” a rep from the Special Olympics told TMZ. “Disability is not a joke nor should it be a punchline. We hope that Shaun White and other learn that this just continues the stigma, stereotypes, and discrimination.”

Instagram users also sounded off on the 32-year-old in the comment section of the post of himself dressed as Simple Jack, ridiculing the athlete for being so careless.

Shaun has since deleted the photo and has made no further comment at this time.