Shaun White Owns Up to His 'Poor Choice' of Halloween Costume
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The Olympic snowboarder is met with criticism after he came to a Halloween party dressed as Simple Jack, an intellectually disabled character from Ben Stiller's 2008 movie 'Tropic Thunder'.

AceShowbiz - Shaun White is deeply sorry for his choice of 2018 Halloween costume. On Tuesday, October 30, the Olympic snowboarder issued a formal apology to the Special Olympics community for coming to a Halloween party dressed as Simple Jack, an intellectually disabled character played by Ben Stiller in 2008 film "Tropic Thunder".

"I owe everyone in the Special Olympics community an apology for my poor choice of Halloween costume the other night," the 32-year-old athlete wrote in a post on Instagram. "It was a last minute decision. It was the wrong one. The Special Olympics were right to call me out on it. They do great work supporting so many tremendous athletes and I am sorry for being insensitive. Lesson learned."

Shaun was met with criticism after posting a photo of his Halloween costume over the weekend. He has since removed the photo, but it didn't stop him from being bashed online. One Instagram user wrote on the comment section of his other post, "of all things to dress up as and you chose this? You're a f***ing loser. It's pretty clear you did it for a reason. Shows your true colors."

Another user pointed out, "There's 1,000 diff costumes to wear for Halloween and u chose that for a reason so don't be sorry now lolol that's f**ked up. And u train special ed kids . Wow ha if u or someone in ur fam was mentally handicapped u wouldn't b laughing and dressin up as a re re."

On Monday, October 29, a representative for the Special Olympics issued a statement, expressing their disappointment at Shaun. "We are truly disappointed that Shaun White, an acclaimed Olympian, would choose this costume which is so offensive and causes so much pain," the rep told TMZ. "Disability is not a joke nor should it be a punchline. We hope that Shaun White and others learn that this just continues stigma, stereotypes and discrimination."

Soon after Shaun expressed his remorse for the controversy he caused, his fans took to his Instagram account to back him up. One follower commented, "It's Halloween! Why apologize!" Another one stated, "Damn. That's dumb. So I gotta apologize too for dressing up as a porn star for Halloween because it's degrading woman? Lmao."

A third user wrote, "You did not need to apologize to no one for your costume man. America...the coutry with so many people offended by anything now a days..." A different user added, "By you apologizing, you are letting these overly sensitive non free speech and choice, r*****s win. You are empowering them by apologizing. Your costume was great and was based on a character in a movie. You did nothing wrong bud. This world needs to lighten up and stop being offended by everything."

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