Hilary Duff first rose to fame in 2001 when she starred in the hit Disney show Lizzie McGuire as Lizzie, an adolescent girl whose thoughts and feelings are expressed to the audience as an animated alter ego. The show lasted two seasons before ending in 2004, and was adapted into a movie The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Duff starred in another Disney hit Cadet Kelly in 2002 as Kelly, a fashion-obsessed teen who is forced to go to military school. Hilary’s fame was soaring in the early 2000s, but died down until recently when she stepped back into the spotlight in a controversial way.

On Friday, October 28, Duff attended a Halloween Party in Beverly Hills with her boyfriend, Jason Walsh. The media’s attention wasn’t what they expected, especially since this was the first time they brought their relationship into the public eye. Duff dressed as a scandalously-dressed pilgrim while Walsh, a personal trainer, dressed as a Native American chief. The couple was slammed by media and people worldwide for their cultural appropriation and insensitivity. While the attack on Duff is much more intense than the one on Walsh, it is Walsh’s offense that is more problematic.

In North Dakota, protesters and members of the Sioux Nation tribe are fighting to prevent the placement of an oil pipeline near their water supply. Sioux Nation members are being arrested and thrown into dog cages by local police for practicing their freedom of peacefully protesting and protecting their land. With this in mind, Walsh’s costume choice becomes even more touchy and insensitive. Since then Duff has spoken out and apologized for her and her boyfriend’s ‘racist’ costumes via Twitter, saying “I am SO sorry to people I offended with my costume. It was not properly thought through and I am truly, from the bottom of my ❤️ sorry.”

While many have taken advantage of this controversy to attack Duff, many have come out in support of her, speaking of how people are too sensitive and see everything as racist. While the issue is still being hotly discussed worldwide, Duff doesn’t seem too terribly fazed by the ordeal. As of recent she has posted a picture on various social media platforms of her and her dog on a hike and of her son in costume with his class.