Halloween Costume Controversy: Father Apologizes For Dressing Child As Hitler

A Kentucky father apologized after a photo he posted of his 5-year-old son dressed in an Adolf Hitler costume and he wearing a Nazi soldier’s outfit stirred controversy. Bryant Goldbach took his son Thursday to a Halloween event when he took the photograph.

Initially, Goldbach justified the idea saying his son loved dressing as "historical figures" but after he was criticized and also allegedly received death threats, the father of four apologized. He was publicly shamed as a "child abuser," "racist," and "coward" on Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter.

"Tonight grown adults threatened a child over his costume. Threatened his mom and dad as well," Goldbach wrote. "Threatened to rip his outfit off of him screaming obscenities, scareing (sic) a small child... "Anyone who knows us knows that we love history, and often dress the part of historical figures," he wrote in a post that has since been deleted, according to the Daily Mail.

"Tonight as we walked we saw people dressed as murderers, devils, serial killers, blood and gore of all sorts. Nobody batted an eye. But my little (son) and I, dress as historical figures, and it merits people not only making snide remarks, but approaching us and threatening my little 5-year-old boy,' he wrote in the tone deaf posting," he said. "First off, its none of your business. Second, how dare you! I mean How dare you threaten a child. Me, its one thing, but my child? You are messing with fire."

While many criticized Goldbach, some also showed support.

Goldbach later said he didn’t realize the costume would "stir so much controversy." He said: "I think it was in bad taste for me to let my child to wear that, probably for me to wear that. It didn't occur to me. I thought it was a bad decision on my part."

He also told local media the Owensboro Times his family received multiple death threats, including being “beaten with bats.” The father of four told the paper he “wasn’t trying to make a statement or put my son in any position... It was bad judgment. I want people to know I am sorry."

The controversial photo, which went viral, came at a time when people have been keeping an eye on Halloween costumes after Megyn Kelly defended blackface. On her show Wednesday, Kelly questioned why dressing up in blackface for Halloween was inappropriate. NBC announced Friday that Kelly had been fired from the network.