Jessica Alba dressed as Nancy Kerrigan for Halloween, with a bandage streaked with fake blood around her knee. Beside her stood a friend dressed as Tonya Harding, baseball bat in hand. By November 2, the photos had disappeared from Alba’s Instagram account.
“Happy Halloween from Tonya … and Nancy,” the 45-year-old actress captioned the photos on November 1. The two costumes referenced the assault that injured Kerrigan in Detroit weeks before the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Some followers objected to making a costume out of the attack. “Immature. We expect better, Jessica,” one wrote. Others applauded the pair, with one commenter calling the costumes “brilliant.”
Us Weekly preserved one of the photographs and contacted Alba’s representatives. Its November 2 report included no response from the actress explaining why the post was gone.
Alba Wore the Costume to a ‘Hockey Horror’ Party in Los Angeles
Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun put an ice rink at the center of their sixth annual Halloween party on October 31. Their “Hockey Horror” theme drew on the TV series Heated Rivalry and Off Campus. Even the skeletons wore hockey skates, according to Just Jared, which published photographer Tiziano Raw’s pictures from the party.
Alba attended with actor Danny Ramirez and posed on the ice. Other guests drew their costumes from the movies. Paul Wesley went as Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, while Brooks Nader dressed as a Fembot from Austin Powers.
What Happened to Nancy Kerrigan After Practice in Detroit
On January 6, 1994, Kerrigan had just finished practice at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships when Shane Stant struck her just above the right knee with a retractable metal baton. Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt, helped arrange the assault.
Television cameras captured Kerrigan on the floor asking why someone had hurt her. She later told ABC News how strange it was to hear people debate her choice of words. “Well, after getting attacked, you don’t know what you’re going to say,” she said in 2017.
The injury forced Kerrigan to withdraw from the national championships. She recovered in time to compete at the Lillehammer Olympics the following month, where she earned silver behind Ukraine’s Oksana Baiul. Harding finished eighth.
Harding’s Guilty Plea and the Skating Association’s Ruling
On March 16, 1994, Harding pleaded guilty in Oregon to conspiring to hinder prosecution. The judge sentenced her to three years of probation, a $100,000 fine and 500 hours of community service. “I’m really sorry that I interfered,” she told the judge, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Harding maintained at the time that she learned about the attack only after it happened. In a separate proceeding that June, a U.S. Figure Skating Association panel concluded she had known about the plan and had been involved before the assault. The panel used a civil standard of proof, its chair told The Washington Post. The association stripped Harding of her 1994 national title and banned her from membership for life.
Harding Is Training for a December Skating Exhibition
In an interview with Portland’s KOIN 6 before Halloween, Harding said her love of skating kept bringing her back to the rink. “I just can’t walk away from it,” she said.
She had been practicing twice a week since spring, working on jumps and spins and using a harness to rebuild her strength. Dody Teachman, who coached her in the 1990s, was back at the rink helping her prepare.
Harding and several other skaters are scheduled to perform December 12 at 2 p.m. at Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver, Washington. Fans can meet the skaters and get autographs after the show.