eBay removes Jeffrey Dahmer costumes from website following Netflix series release
As Netflix's true crime series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story continues to trend high on the streaming platform, eBay is cracking down on sellers attempting to make a quick buck with costumes inspired by the serial killer on its website.
In the lead-up to Halloween, the e-commerce site has removed any and all costume listings related to Dahmer — who murdered 17 men and boys in Milwaukee from 1978 until his arrest in 1991 — and his likeness online.
"I can confirm that these items are banned on eBay and are being removed under our 'Violence and Violent Criminal Policy,'" an eBay spokesperson told EW. "These items have been prohibited under the policy – this was not a new or recent decision."
Netflix Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in 'Dahmer: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story'
Per the policy, eBay sellers are not allowed to hawk merchandise that either "promote or glorify violence towards humans or animals," including "films, images, or devices that contain or claim to contain real acts of violence, rape, execution, torture, crime scenes, morgues, dead bodies or body parts of dead persons."
The policy also extends to "items closely associated with or that benefit violent felons, their acts, or crime scenes within the past 100 years." So no, don't expect to find any Dahmer costumes — or any related serial killer ensembles — on its website.
But some sellers have apparently found a way around the ban Among the items listed in a search for "Jeffrey Dahmer costumes" on the site, a pair of wire-rimmed glasses that look visually similar to the ones that Dahmer once wore are instead labeled as "fashion inspired glasses." Other costumes reportedly featured a mask of actor Evan Peters, who plays the titular killer in the Ryan Murphy series, per Variety.
Since its release last month, Dahmer has drawn backlash from its viewers, production staff, and the family members of the victims online. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Shirley Hughes, the mother of victim Tony Hughes, slammed the series for its portrayal of her and her son, noting, "I don't see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there."
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