Jessica Alba's Halloween Costume Channels Surprising Tonya Harding Skating Return News

Jessica Alba tried to recreate one of figure skating's most infamous scandals for Halloween, but it didn't go exactly as planned.

The actress is facing backlash after she dressed up as Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, complete with a fake, bloodied bandage around her knee, for a star-studded Halloween bash in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 31.

The controversy comes at an interesting time for Kerrigan's former skating rival, Tonya Harding, who is getting ready for her big return to the ice more than three decades after the scandal ended her competitive career.

Tonya Harding Nancy Kerrigan — Feb 22, 1994; Lillehammer, Norway; U.S. figure skaters Tonya Harding, left, and Nancy Kerrigan take a break from the ice during practice for the Winter Olympic games; | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

According to Page Six, Alba, 45, appeared to delete the photos of her costume from Instagram after being criticized by fans.

The "Fantastic Four" actress attended the party with her friend Kelly Sawyer, who dressed up as Harding and carried a baseball bat.

Alba reportedly shared photos from her spooky night out via Instagram on Sunday, Nov. 1, captioning the post, "Happy Halloween from Tonya ... and Nancy."

Jessica Alba deletes Halloween photos after bloody Nancy Kerrigan costume sparks backlash https://t.co/LBM74FSFS1 pic.twitter.com/o4o9IEzhWD
— New York Post (@nypost) November 2, 2026

That's where the drama started.

Alba Faces Fan Backlash Over Costume

Not everyone found the costumes to be tasteful – or funny.

"Immature. We expect better, Jessica," one commenter wrote.

"Does she have any awareness of what she's doing? Does she think this is funny?" a second person wrote.

"That's pretty tacky. To each his own but still, why? 30 year old story," another added.

Others defended Alba, with one social media user calling the costume "brilliant."

The Halloween costumes were meant to reference the January 1994 attack on Kerrigan, who was struck in the leg with a police baton by a man hired as part of a plot involving Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly.

Kerrigan recovered in time to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, where she won a silver medal.

Harding was never convicted of planning the attack, but pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder the investigation and was subsequently banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

Tonya Harding prepares to return to ice 32 years after Nancy Kerrigan scandal

More than three decades after the drama rocked the Winter Olympics, Harding, 55, is getting ready to perform on the ice again.

The former Olympic figure skater is scheduled to perform in a public skating show called "Tonya and Friends" on Dec. 12 at Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver, Washington.

Harding revealed in an Oct. 30 interview that she's been skating twice a week since the spring to get ready to perform in front of a live audience again.

"The love of skating is the reason why I've always come back," Harding told CBS affiliate KOIN 6. "I just can't walk away from it."

‘Can’t walk away from it’: Tonya Harding returns to the ice for Vancouver skating show pic.twitter.com/HNqEFwo7dF
— KOIN News (@KOINNews) October 30, 2026

The show is not a competition. It's instead designed to be a public skating exhibition that will show off the jumps and spins that previously made Harding a household name in figure skating.

Before being banned from competing, Harding became the first American woman to land a triple axel at the 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She then went on to compete in the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.

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