This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Heidi Klum may have shown up to her annual Halloween party with an out-of-this-world costume, but someone else used the idea first.
Klum and her husband Tom Kaulitz appeared on the red carpet at New York’s Hard Rock Hotel as a female and male version of the alien from Steve Spielberg’s classic 1982 movie E.T. the Extraterrestrial.
However, one day before Halloween, Janelle Monae had also dressed up as the extraterrestrial.
The America’s Got Talent judge spoke to E! News on the carpet, revealing that she spent over a year working on her Halloween costume. “It took one year to get ready,” Klum told the outlet. “We started at 10 am this morning. We just got ready, we just came down.”
She explained how much preparation went into the costume including the suits that were made with a 3-D printer and remote-controlled heads with her husband adding, “It took a whole team of amazing people and lots of planning.”
Klum explained in an interview with The New York Times that her inspiration for this year’s costume was because of how much she loved the Spielberg movie growing up, mentioning that she came up with the idea only a few weeks after her Halloween bash last year.
She specifically liked that the alien character in the movie wasn’t defined to one specific gender, saying, “They have no genitals.”
“I like the whole idea of, like, we’re all the same.”
As for Monae, she posted various photos of her in costume on Instagram with her face being unrecognizable as she was completely covered in a brown-textured suit similar to Klum.
“You finally came home. Welcome back E.T. Thank you Google Maps,” she captioned one of her posts, while others showed her acting out various scenes from the movie such as the alien seeing his spaceship with his signature glowing finger. Monae also appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show in her costume for its Halloween special.
Speaking to Vogue, the singer admitted how often she thinks about Spielberg’s character and how much she loves the movie. ET follows the story of an alien landing on Earth and becoming friends with a boy named Elliot and his family as the two of them become increasingly connected.
“ET has lurked in my mind since I was a baby,” Monae told the outlet. “From Spielberg’s writing to the cinematography, the story of ET and Elliot has touched my heart deeply. This movie always leaves me in tears.”
“Since the movie came out 42 years ago, I thought it could be cool for the world to see what ET has been up to now,” she explained. “What kinda things is ET into now? I thought it would be even cooler if he invaded my world; a day in the life of ET in this timeless space.”
Last year, supermodel Klum donned a giant peacock costume with a little help from 10 performers from the iconic circus troupe, Cirque du Soleil. The acrobats were the ones who brought her elaborate wings to life. Klum’s husband Kaulitz was also in costume, with the 34-year-old opting for a gigantic white peacock egg to match the theme.