It’s become predictable at this point that someone is going to take Halloween as an opportunity to dress up as something offensive or inappropriate, and that’s what a pair of white apparent college students did on Sunday, Oct. 27.
In a TikTok video captioned “How the group chat dressed for Halloween,” a carousel of photos was shared showing college students in their Halloween outfits. Some of the students featured in the photo montage were dressed as Cruella de Vil and a Dalmatian, Woody and Jessie from Pixar’s “Toy Story,” and the president of the United States. However, the video became a problem for many viewers when it showed a young white student-age man donning blackface in an attempt to impersonate Sean “Diddy” Combs while the woman standing next to him was dressed as Johnson & Johnson’s baby oil.
The original poster of the video is a San Diego State University student who has since deleted it from the TikTok platform. However, the clip had already been shared with millions of viewers across other social media platforms. Screenshots of the video have also been captured and reposted on X.
X users reacted to the blackface image, pointing out that the unidentified man clearly just wanted to be racist because nothing about his costume actually resembled Diddy at all.
“Any excuse for blackface,” one X user wrote.
“Crying bc diddy has never even put on a fit like this before, n-gga just wanted to put on some blackface and be a racist idiot with his girl,” said one X user.
Someone else who shared similar sentiments said, “Dawg …Idk what’s worse. The fact that he did blackface in 2024 or that fact his costume doesn’t even scream Diddy & it was just a excuse to paint his face.”
On a clip of the video reposted on TikTok, a user commented, “‘bye bye college👋🏻’ we all say in unison.”
A second TikToker commented, “Not a single friend in sight to tell them ‘hey, this is a really bad idea.'”
A few non-Black social media users saw nothing wrong with the costume, claiming the act was just a joke and offended parties should lighten up.
One person wrote, “People need to stop being offended over Black paint on white skin. Its just paint and a joke you soft bastards.”
A fourth person said, “Is it really that bad considering what Diddy did? Why can’t people just have fun anymore? Holy f-ck.”
SDSU has since released a statement on the matter, saying, “We appreciate the willingness of people who have come forward to share information with the university. The use of blackface and any actions making light of sexual assault are deeply offensive and have no place in a respectful, caring community. We are deeply concerned about the actions depicted and understand the gravity of how this may impact others, including members of our community.
“The individuals photographed are not confirmed SDSU students, and our team is working to confirm information, including the location and the names and affiliations of the individuals involved. Any behavior that stereotypes or seeks to harm people based on race or ethnicity and disregards the severity of sexual assault directly contradicts our shared university values and undermines our efforts in support of inclusion and a sense of belonging for our students and also faculty and staff.”
Diddy, who was arrested in September and indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution, is being held in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where he awaits his May 5 trial date.
