Janelle Monáe’s ‘HalloQueen’ crown stays secure — three-years-in-the-making E.T. costume becomes a pop-culture moment

LOS ANGELES — Janelle Monáe has built a reputation for treating Halloween as a high-concept performance art festival — and this year she delivered what may be her most ambitious costume yet: a fully realized, animatronic E.T. from Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic.

Appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Monáe arrived not “as a person wearing a costume,” but as an E.T. recreation so complete it blurred the line between special effects and performance. The headpiece included expressive eyelids, oversized blue eyes, a glowing fingertip and a lighted heart panel — details that more closely resemble a film prop workshop build than a traditional Halloween look.

Monáe said the suit took three years to complete. The plan was to debut the design in 2023 — but the Hollywood strikes halted character-based promotional appearances for actors. The delay built curiosity, and the eventual reveal turned into a moment that ricocheted across social timelines.

a personal, not just visual, challenge

Monáe also explained that this wasn’t only about spectacle. The artist has been open about using immersive transformation to take control of fear — including claustrophobia.

“Costume work lets me examine difficult sensations in a playful setting,” she said in her Hudson interview, adding that the goal is not perfection, but curiosity — and permission to look “funny or unusual” while trying something new.

the moment that made the show studio cheer

Cameras captured an instantly viral beat: Monáe, still speaking in a textured E.T. voice, illuminated her fingertip. Hudson leaned in. The two touched fingers — a respectful, winking replay of the film’s most recognizable shot. Hudson laughed and said, “E.T. knows my name!” — a line that quickly became a meme caption.

a Halloween portfolio, still expanding

Monáe’s Halloween track record already includes magazine cover recognition, including The Hollywood Reporter’s Scary Issue. This year, she also partnered with AMC Networks as a host for FearFest, folding this E.T. chapter into a broader October-long programming role.

In an additional photo series, she recreated E.T.’s flying bicycle sequence — playing both E.T. and Elliott — under a moon backdrop.

Monáe has repeatedly said she views Halloween as an open invitation to transform, to rethink identity, and to make imagination visible. This E.T. build — patient, engineered and theatrical — underscores that philosophy.

If the title “HalloQueen” is ever debated, this costume is evidence: it still fits.