Jessica Alba went as Nancy Kerrigan for Halloween. Her friend Kelly Sawyer went as Tonya Harding. The costumes might have passed for a ’90s figure-skating tribute, except that Alba wore a fake-bloody knee bandage and Sawyer brought a baseball bat.

Subtlety, apparently, was scratched from the program.

Alba wore a white lace skating outfit, while Sawyer dressed in maroon. According to HollywoodLife, Alba shared photos of the pair on Instagram with the caption, “Happy Halloween from Tonya … and Nancy.” Some commenters thought turning a real assault into a costume gag was in poor taste. The photos were later removed.

For Detroit readers, there’s a local connection. In January 1994, Kerrigan was attacked after a practice session at Cobo Arena ahead of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Shane Stant struck her on the leg with a collapsible baton as part of a plot involving Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly.

So the baseball bat was historically inaccurate. Correcting the prop, of course, would have done very little to fix the costume.

Kerrigan missed the national championships but recovered in time to compete at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, where she won silver. Harding also competed there and finished eighth. She later pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution and was banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association. She wasn’t convicted of carrying out the attack herself.

The scandal got a second life with the 2017 movie I, Tonya. By Halloween 2026, it had apparently made its way into that category of costume ideas that sound funnier in the group chat.

HollywoodLife reported no public response from Alba, Kerrigan, or Harding at the time of its story. The only thing Alba’s Instagram seems to have offered in the way of a follow-up was a clean ice surface.

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