Costumeish.com 
 
 Costumeish, the company that previously brought us such fun Halloween getups as the “Sexy Ebola Costume” and the “Lion Killer Dentist Costume,” has outdone itself: This year, Costumeish invites you to dress as a bound and gagged Kim Kardashian. 
 
 You probably heard that Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris this month. But perhaps it didn’t occur to you to think of a way to capitalize on this violent crime through your shady online costume venture? Well, that’s what separates you from the pros at Costumeish, where the website menu boasts an entire section of costumes under the heading “Hot Takes.” 
 
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 The robbery incident happened in early October—perhaps for other, lesser online costume purveyors this wouldn’t provide enough time to get a poorly conceived and clearly offensive costume out the door. Costumeish, though, was able to sink to the challenge. The so-called Parisian Heist Robbery Victim costume, which retails for $69.99, includes a short “sexy” robe, a long black wig, a fake $4 million ring, large sunglasses, a fake gag, and rope. (Putting aside all that’s conceptually gross about it, that price tag is absurd! Surely you could round up all the elements of this “costume” for less.) 
 
 It seems like we need to have the offensive Halloween costume conversation every year, so here we go again: Wearing a costume that makes light of a real act of violence is not cool! What’s more, it’s not even funny. As Ben Mathis-Lilley pointed out earlier this month in a critique of the New Yorker’s recent efforts in topical comedy, with “jokes” like these, “their primary effect is not to make you laugh, it’s to remind you that you've heard of a thing.” So yes, we’ve all heard about Kim Kardashian getting robbed, it is a thing that happened. That does not mean wearing a costume that depicts it happening is automatically funny. ||||| FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Kim Kardashian West arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Kardashian West is suing online media outlet, MediaTakeOut.com, saying she was wrongly portrayed... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Kim Kardashian West arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Kardashian West is suing online media outlet, MediaTakeOut.com, saying she was wrongly portrayed as a liar and thief after she was attacked in Paris. Police say armed robbers forced their... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Kim Kardashian West arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Kardashian West is suing online media outlet, MediaTakeOut.com, saying she was wrongly portrayed as a liar and thief after she was attacked in Paris. Police say armed robbers forced their... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Kim Kardashian West arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Kardashian West is suing online media outlet, MediaTakeOut.com, saying she was wrongly portrayed... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Kim Kardashian West sued an online media outlet for libel Tuesday, saying she was wrongly portrayed as a liar and thief after she was attacked in Paris. 
 
 The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court seeks unspecified damages from MediaTakeOut.com. It said Kardashian West, traumatized by the Oct. 3 armed robbery, was victimized a second time when the website reported hours afterward that she faked the robbery and lied about the assault. 
 
 The website's owner, Fred Mwangaguhunga, didn't answer his phone when comment was sought Tuesday. A message left with the website wasn't immediately returned. 
 
 Police said armed robbers forced their way into a private residence where the reality TV star was staying, tied her up and stole $10 million worth of jewelry. She was in Paris for fashion week. 
 
 No arrests have been made. 
 
 The lawsuit said the website lacked any factual support when it published a series of articles referring to her as a liar and a thief and alleged that she faked the robbery, lied about the violent assault and filed a fraudulent claim with her insurance company to cheat her carrier out of millions of dollars. 
 
 The lawsuit said the "malicious publication of the articles, which paint the victim of a serious crime as a criminal herself, is libelous." 
 
 The website also ignored her demand that it publish a retraction and apology for calling her a liar and a criminal, the lawsuit said. 
 
 According to the lawsuit, Kardashian was assaulted and robbed by two masked men who put a gun to her head, duct-taped her hands, legs and mouth, and left her lying helplessly on the bathroom floor while they left with the jewelry. 
 
 After the attack, her husband, Kanye West, abruptly ended his New York concert, announcing that he had a family emergency. ||||| A costume company is facing intense backlash for selling a Halloween getup that shows Kim Kardashian West being gagged and bound as a “robbery victim.” 
 
 The “ Parisian Heist Robbery Victim Costume Kit ” is selling for nearly $70 on the website Costumeish and features a white robe, long black wig, black sunglasses, a fake gag, 2 feet of rope and a large ring. 
 
 “She has devoted her life to promoting American decadence, youth, and hedonism but all that flashy living caught up with her one night in Paris when armed men bound her, stole her jewelry and her peace of mind,” the website says in its description of the costume. "This Halloween, have some fun with pop culture and dress just like the Queen of Social media.” 
 
 The website does not name Kim Kardashian West due to legal issues, Costumeish founder and vice president Johnathon Weeks said. But the reality TV star dominated headlines last week when armed robbers held her up at gunpoint inside a private Paris residence and made off with more than $10 million worth of jewelry. The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star was tied up and locked in a bathroom. She was reportedly seen wearing a robe in a Snapchat taken before the robbery. 
 
 Dozens of people blasted the costume company on social media and in reviews on the website for making fun of the harrowing crime. “This is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. How dare you make a mockery of a horrible thing,” one user wrote. 
 
 “I'm not a fan of Kim Kardashian but this is disgusting. This is not funny at all,” another person said. “The situation Kim was in shouldn't be a joke to you or anybody. Just because she is famous doesn't mean she is any less human.” 
 
 Weeks said the costume is meant to incite a strong reaction and that Halloween is a holiday that calls for some humor. “It’ll make people either cringe or laugh,” he told TIME on Tuesday. “I don’t want to make light of a serious situation. My deepest sympathy goes out to the family. No one really deserves to go through what she did. We’re not mocking her.” 
 
 “Halloween references pop culture and celebrities are no different. That’s Halloween,” Weeks added. 
 
 The costume company has been behind a handful of outfits that have sparked outrage in the past, including last year’s “ Bruce Gender ” costume, which depicts a male and female version of Caitlyn Jenner, who was known as Bruce Jenner before she came out as a transgender woman, and a dentist holding a severed lion’s head in reference to the man who killed Cecil the lion. 
 
 “It’s about fun. It’s about laughter,” Weeks said. “Sometimes laughter is the best remedy for serious situations.” ||||| 
 
 Screenshot from Costumeish.com. (Costumeish) 
 
 UPDATE: After this story was published, Costumeish said it was pulling the ensemble depicting Kim Kardashian. 
 
 “Due to the extensive out-lash we have decided to remove the ‘Parisian Heist’ costume from our website,” the retailer wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “We are sorry if it offended anyone.” 
 
 ORIGINAL STORY: 
 
 Halloween: The one day of the year you can pretend to be a reporter’s tampon, the Clock Kid, the world’s most despised lion-hunting dentist — or, if you’re into that sort of thing, a bound-and-gagged Kim Kardashian in the very moment she was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in Paris as thieves took millions of dollars worth of jewelry. 
 
 Yup. 
 
 Costumeish, the Southern California-based costume retailer behind several heavily criticized ensembles of Halloweens past, has just released a “Parisian Heist Robbery Victim Costume Kit.” For $69.99, it includes a long black wig, white robe, sunglasses, a gag, a rope and a ring — which is “not worth $4 million dollars,” according to the description. 
 
 It does not mention the reality TV star by name; however, it does refer to “America’s goddess of all things glamorous” and “the Queen of Social media.” 
 
 That doesn’t mean Taylor Swift. 
 
 “She devoted her life to promoting American decadence, youth, and hedonism but all that flashy living caught up with her one night in Paris when armed men bound her, stole her jewelry and her peace of mind,” the Costumeish description says. “This Halloween have some fun with pop culture and dress just like the Queen of Social media with our sensational ‘Parisian Heist Robbery Victim Costume’ Costume.” 
 
 [Khloe Kardashian on ‘Ellen’: Kim is ‘not doing that well’ after Paris robbery] 
 
 Although the company’s website boasts several supportive reviews, including one that called it “the costume of the year,” the retailer’s attempt at keeping up with Kardashian has drawn intense criticism from some online reviewers, who have called it “a mockery” and have said it’s “promoting rape and anti-female culture.” 
 
 “Here is yet another example of people blaming women for being victims,” one person wrote on Costumeish.com. “Many men wear expensive watches, necklaces, etc. and robbing them is still considered a crime. Treat it as such. Having a gun put to your head by multiple men while you fear that they may rape you is traumatizing. I’m pretty sure that the poor human being can’t forget any second of the attack and here you are using her scarring events to make money. This is disgusting. It is not funny.” 
 
 [Kim Kardashian robbery: Here’s everything we know — and don’t know] 
 
 On social media, the company was scorned for trying to profit off Kardashian’s misfortune. 
 
 That Kim Kardashian Halloween costume is not right at all — Julia (@juliaritaxo) October 11, 2016 
 
 A Kim Kardashian themed Parisian robbery Halloween costume, quite possibly the most distasteful and awful thing I've seen today. #thatsnotok — Sophie (@ClassicOyster) October 11, 2016 
 
 Johnathon Weeks, vice president of Costumeish, told Buzzfeed News that he was upset that critics were not seeing the humor. 
 
 “I’m sad that people are offended by it, but it is Halloween. It’s one day out of the year,” he said. “Halloween should be a light-hearted, spirited party, and people should be able to laugh at it and think it’s funny. We haven’t sold any yet, if that matters.” 
 
 He added: “If people find it tasteless or they are offended by it, it’s Halloween. Maybe you should just shut your life out and not go outside.” 
 
 Let the transformation begin #BazaarIcons A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 13, 2016 at 9:18am PDT 
 
 Last year, Weeks told Time that Costumeish uses search-engine data to determine which Halloween costume searches are popular with consumers, all the better to better tap into retail trends. At the time, the company had just introduced its “Lion Killer Dentist Halloween Costume,” which came with a bloody smock and gloves and a severed lion’s head, according to Time. 
 
 “Cecil was coming up, and just like with many of the other ones, like the Ebola or the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge costumes, we see the trend from users,” Weeks said. “Halloween is a really tricky day, and you see some of the costumes come about and it’s almost like desensitizing things.” 
 
 Weeks added that he did not intend to offend anyone. “I’m just here to keep things questionable,” he said. “We’re just in the very beginning of this Halloween season. There’s more to come.” 
 
 This year, Costumeish is selling several in-the-news get-ups — including a “Donald the Wall Builder Halloween Costume.” That one depicts Donald Trump in a red-brick suit, with an American flag. 
 
 Another Trump-themed costume portrays the Republican presidential candidate as a Mexican-style taco. 
 
 “… a taco truck on every corner in America!” the description states. 
 
 As word of the Kardashian costume spread, supporters said that creative mockery was exactly the point. 
 
 “Ordering this as we speak,” a reviewer wrote on Costumeish website. “Thank you for maximizing my schadenfreude this Halloween.” 
 
 “Finally something for all of us who are sick of having a certain family pushed forcefully down our throats,” another wrote. “Iconic.” 
 
 This story has been updated. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Why are people mocking Kim Kardashian for being a victim of violent crime? 
 
 Kim Kardashian robbery in Paris is fueling French security concerns 
 
 How the NRA reacted to Kim Kardashian’s robbery ||||| A Halloween costume depicting reality star Kim Kardashian bound and gagged has sparked outrage. 
 
 A company called Costumeish is selling a costume called "Parisian Heist Robbery Victim," and while the reality star is never named in the costume's description, there's little doubt the costume is Kardashian-related. 
 
 The costume kit includes a short white robe, a long black wig, large sunglasses, a fake gag, two inches of rope and a fake "$4 million dollar" ring. 
 
 "This Halloween it's all about the #Hallomeme and who better than America's goddess of all things glamorous 'Parisian Heist Robbery Victim Costume?'" the costume's description reads. "She has devoted her life to promoting American decadence, youth, and hedonism but all that flashy living caught up with her one night in Paris when armed men bound her, stole her jewelry and her peace of mind. This Halloween have some fun with pop culture and dress just like the Queen of Social media." 
 
 The costume received backlash on social media, but Costumeish told FOX411 the company has "no intentions of taking it down and it has been selling well." 
 
 So horrible that someone would actually make a 'Kim Kardashian Robbery' Halloween costume! — Emma (@emi_emma1) October 11, 2016 
 
 That Kim Kardashian 'gagged at gun point' Halloween costume is actually sick. Some extremely twisted people out there. — Olivia Barraclough (@liv_barraclough) October 11, 2016 
 
 The kim kardashian Halloween costume is beyond disrespectful ✋🏼#disgusting — Adrianna (@AdriannaBrowne1) October 11, 2016 
 
 That Kim Kardashian Halloween costume is not right at all — Julia (@juliaritaxo) October 11, 2016 
 
 "Our deepest sympathy to the family and nobody deserves to go [through] what she did. We are not mocking her, however, Halloween reflects pop culture and celebrities are no different," a rep for Costumeish said. 
 
 Police in Paris say they are still investigating an October 3 robbery where Kardashian said she was tied up and robbed of nearly $10 million in jewelry. 
 
 This is not the first year a costume has made waves. In recent years, costumes of Caitlyn Jenner, Cecil the Lion and an Ebola hazmat suit caused controversies. ||||| Kanye West performs at the United Center on Friday, Oct 7, 2016, in Chicago. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 Kanye West performs at the United Center on Friday, Oct 7, 2016, in Chicago. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 CHICAGO (AP) — Kanye West returned to his tour Friday night after canceling dates earlier in the week when his wife Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. 
 
 The rapper resumed the Saint Pablo Tour in his hometown of Chicago without mentioning the crime at the show. 
 
 He did tell the crowd "it's good to be home." West performed for about 90 minutes straight. 
 
 The rapper abruptly cut short a New York concert earlier this week citing a "family emergency." 
 
 It was later reported that robbers held Kardashian West at gunpoint Monday and locked her in the bathroom of a Paris residence before stealing more than $10 million worth of jewelry. 
 
 She returned to the U.S. later Monday and West announced that he had rescheduled for December planned concerts on Tuesday in Philadelphia and Thursday in the Detroit area. 
 
 Kardashian West, known for prolific posting on social media, has been publicly silent since the ordeal. 
 
 No arrests have been made. ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016, file photo, Khloe Kardashian participates in the panel for "Kocktails with Khloe" at the FYI 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. Kardashian said on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show"... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016, file photo, Khloe Kardashian participates in the panel for "Kocktails with Khloe" at the FYI 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. Kardashian said on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" in an interview broadcast on Tue., Oct. 11, 2016, that her older sister, Kim Kardashian West, is... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016, file photo, Khloe Kardashian participates in the panel for "Kocktails with Khloe" at the FYI 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. Kardashian said on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" in an interview broadcast on Tue., Oct. 11, 2016, that her older sister, Kim Kardashian West, is... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016, file photo, Khloe Kardashian participates in the panel for "Kocktails with Khloe" at the FYI 2016 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif. Kardashian said on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show"... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Khloe Kardashian says her older sister, Kim Kardashian West, is "not doing that well" more than a week after she was held up during a Paris jewelry heist. 
 
 During an appearance on Tuesday's "Ellen DeGeneres Show," Khloe Kardashian described the incident as being "incredibly traumatic" for her sister. 
 
 "Our family is super close and great, and we'll get through it together," she said. 
 
 The Kardashian clan has been unusually quiet on social media in the days since the robbery. 
 
 "It's a wake-up call to make a lot of life adjustments," she said. 
 
 Khole Kardashian says the family is going "to pull back a little bit" and make sure it's "protected as well as possible." 
 
 Police say armed robbers forced their way into a private residence where Kardashian was staying in Paris last week, tied her up and stole $10 million worth of jewelry. 
 
 No arrests have been made.
– An online retailer has pulled a Halloween costume that made light of the recent jewelry heist involving Kim Kardashian West. Time reports that the listing for the "Parisian Heist" costume on Costumeish featured a bound and gagged Kardashian lookalike dressed in a white robe and sporting a giant ring. The listing didn't include Kardashian's name, though Fortune reports that it did refer to "America’s goddess of all things glamorous" and the "Queen of Social Media." The costume was being sold for nearly $70, reports the AP. The company's founder, Jonathon Weeks, told Time that the costume was designed to provoke a strong reaction. He says he didn't want to "make light of a serious situation," and added that the company wasn't mocking her. The costume prompted outrage from some social media users, and was called "offensive," "disgusting," and "sick," among many other things. The company's Twitter account announced Tuesday the costume had been pulled and apologized if it "offended anyone." You may still see it at Halloween parties, because the company previously said it had no plans to pull it because it had been "selling well." In other Kardashian news, Kanye West resumed touring over the weekend, but Khloe said Tuesday that sister Kim is still "not doing well" after the "incredibly traumatic" experience. Also Tuesday, Kim sued online media outlet MediaTakeOut.com for libel. The lawsuit states Kardashian was victimized a second time when the website published a series of articles referring to her as a liar and a thief and alleged that she faked the robbery, lied about the violent assault, and filed a fraudulent claim with her insurance company to cheat her carrier out of millions of dollars.