Who wore it better? Model Heidi Klum, singer-actress Janelle Monae dress up as E.T. for Halloween

German supermodel Heidi Klum and American singer-actress Janelle Monae may have to coordinate their Halloween costumes in 2025, as they both ended up stepping out as iconic movie character E.T. this year.

Klum, 51, is famed for her annual Halloween bash held in New York City and donning extravagant, headline-making Halloween costumes, like a 10-person peacock in 2023, a worm in 2022 and Princess Fiona from animated film series Shrek (2001 to present) in 2018.  

The judge of American reality talent series America’s Got Talent (2006 to present) and her husband, German musician Tom Kaulitz, arrived at the 2024 party on Oct 31 dressed up as the female and male versions of the friendly alien from American director Steven Spielberg’s film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). 

According to The New York Times, the idea for the costume – which included a glowing fingertip and motorised headpiece with movable mouth and eyes – came to Klum a few weeks after her 2023 Halloween bash, as it was one of her favourite movies as a child.

But she was beaten to the punch by Monae, 38, who debuted her own E.T. costume on Instagram on Oct 30.

“You came back, 42 years later,” she wrote, referring to the number of years since the movie’s release. “Welcome back, E.T. Thank you, Google Maps.”

Monae – who reportedly had been planning this costume for two years – posted several photos of her outfit, including one where her face can be seen, and a poster of her riding a bicycle with E.T. in front of the moon, in a reference to an iconic scene from the film.

She also turned up in full prosthetics as E.T. for the Halloween episode of American talk show The Jennifer Hudson Show, hosted by American singer-actress Jennifer Hudson, which aired on Oct 31.