Julia Fox defended her blood-soaked Jackie Kennedy costume on Friday after she was hit by intense backlash.
The actress, 35, who recreated the look the former First Lady wore on the day of President John F Kennedy’s assassination, said it was a ‘statement to her extraordinary bravery’.
Attending The Cursed Amulet’s Halloween party in New York City on Thursday, Julia wore the double-breasted pink ensemble Jackie wore during the 1963 presidential motorcade when JFK was fatally shot beside her.
As history remembers, the First Lady famously refused to change out of the bloodstained suit, famously saying to aide when they suggested it: ‘No. Let them see what they’ve done to Jack.’
However, Julia’s recreation was branded ‘tasteless’ and ‘disrespectful’ by fans and controversial grandson of JFK, Jack Schlossberg, who lambasted her choice.
Sharing her reasons in an Instagram post, Julia later wrote: ‘I’m dressed as Jackie Kennedy in the pink suit. Not as a costume, but as a statement.’
Julia Fox defended her blood-soaked Jackie Kennedy costume on Friday after she was hit by intense backlash
The actress, 35, who recreated the look the Former First Lady wore on the day of President JFK’s assassination (pictured), said it was a ‘statement to her extraordinary bravery’
She continued: ‘When her husband was assassinated, she refused to change out of her blood-stained clothes, saying, “I want them to see what they’ve done.”
‘The image of the delicate pink suit splattered with blood is one of the most haunting juxtapositions in modern history. Beauty and horror. Poise and devastation.
‘Her decision not to change clothes, even after being encouraged to, was an act of extraordinary bravery. It was performance, protest, and mourning all at once.
‘A woman weaponizing image and grace to expose brutality. It’s about trauma, power, and how femininity itself is a form of resistance. Long live Jackie O.’
Jackie’s pink Chanel-inspired suit — designed by Oleg Cassini — was never cleaned after the assassination and remains stained with JFK’s blood.
Jackie’s maid, Providencia Paredes, reportedly placed the suit in a bag when the First Lady returned to the White House after the tragedy.
It’s now preserved by the National Archives in Maryland, locked away from public view until 2103.
The tragic story behind the iconic suit was revisited in the 2023 documentary JFK: One Day In America, where Clint Hill — the Secret Service agent assigned to Jackie — recalled the horrifying moments that followed the gunfire in Dallas.
However, Julia’s recreation was branded ‘tasteless’ and ‘disrespectful’ by fans and controversial grandson of JFK, Jack Schlossberg, who lambasted her choice
Julia said her costume was about: ‘A woman weaponizing image and grace to expose brutality. It’s about trauma, power, and how femininity itself is a form of resistance’
The First Lady famously refused to change out of the bloodstained suit, famously saying to aide when they suggested it: ‘No. Let them see what they’ve done to Jack’
‘I jumped to the rear bumper. Mrs Kennedy was screaming, “I love Jack.” I wasn’t fast enough,’ he said.
Jackie’s pink suit became soaked in her husband’s blood as she cradled his body in the backseat of the car.
Former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson later described the harrowing scene in her diary, as cited by PBS: ‘As we ground to a halt — we were still the third car — Secret Service men began to pull, lead, guide, and hustle us out.
‘I cast one last look over my shoulder and saw in the president’s car a bundle of pink, just like a drift of blossoms, lying in the back seat. It was Mrs Kennedy lying over the president’s body.’
At Parkland Memorial Hospital, Jackie was offered clean clothes but refused to change, choosing only to wash her face.
‘One second later, I thought, “Why did I wash the blood off [my face]?” I should have left it there; let them see what they’ve done,’ Jackie later told Life magazine.
