The woman at the centre of a blackface scandal at Saturday’s AFL elimination final says she is ‘deeply distressed’ and refusing to take phone calls from her friends.

The Daily Mail can reveal it was club stalwart Colleen McKaye, 59, who painted her face black to pose as the Adelaide Crows mascot for their victory over the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.

She was crowned female Fan of the Year by the AFL Fans Association in 2018 and is a long-serving committee member of the club’s official cheer squad, with ties dating back more than a decade.

But Ms McKaye has now gone into hiding after TV cameras caught her in the stands in the controversial outfit, sparking a nationwide row.

‘She is not taking any calls at the moment,’ her son James told the Daily Mail on Monday.

‘I’ve had all her friends messaging me worried because she’s not answering her phone. She’s not doing too great after everything.’

Ms McKaye was seated in the Crows cheer squad bay behind the goal square when the cameras picked her out of the crowd in her costume.

She was accused of ‘blackface’, where a non-black person darkens their skin to imitate a black person, historically lampooning the race for racist minstrel shows.

She also attracted condemnation for adding a red bow tie typically worn by minstrels and used on old-fashioned golliwog dolls, but not traditionally worn by the club’s mascot, Claude the Crow.

‘For big games… I dress up in over-the-top clothes to show my Crows colours,’ she told her club’s website after she was named fan of the year in 2018.

Colleen McKaye (pictured) attended the match dressed as Adelaide’s mascot, Claude the Crow

Vision of her black-painted face and red bow tie during the game left viewers stunned

Ms McKaye is a passionate Crows fan, who won a supporter of the year award in 2018

At games, she is known for firing up the crowd to sing supporter chants. 

‘I live and breathe the Crows and so much of my time is spent supporting them,’ she said.

In a picture of her in a previous costume, she wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the number 19 – the number once worn by Crow favourite Patrick Dangerfield.

Ms McKaye’s son said he went to visit her on Monday morning, but revealed that she was ‘not doing well’.

‘She’s just a person who loves her footy club so to be painted as a racist [is just awful for her]…’ he said.

Ms McKaye has worked as assistant treasurer and fundraising manager for the supporter group, organising raffles and other fundraising initiatives. 

She has been part of the supporter group’s banner making team, organises buses and tickets for interstate games and attends all home games as well as some interstate matches.

Her son said she would not be travelling to the Gabba in Brisbane to support the Crows in their semi-final clash with the Lions on Saturday night.

Ms McKaye is listed as the Crows supporters’ group’s public officer

Blackface makeup has a racist connection to minstrel shows in the United States

He was unsure if she would ever attend a football match again.  

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Crows Supporters Group president Peter Kauschke spoke out in support and explained why she included the red bow tie.

‘It’s sad about all the comments,’ he said. ‘However, yes, she purchased a costume and replicated Claude the Crow.

‘She had the red bow due to the headpiece coming off.’

Mr Kauschke also linked to a video of News24 host James Macpherson’s opinion piece slamming those who labelled Ms McKaye a racist.

On his Sunday night show, Macpherson said, ‘Isn’t [it a] tragedy that when people think of a Crows supporter dressed as a crow, they’ve been trained to think of race.

‘It never occurs to them that she’s obviously a crow. And so everyone ends up going cuckoo. 

‘Here’s what I hate about the left’s obsession with race. When you teach people to interpret the world through race, people eventually stop seeing other people. 

She is known for her colourful costumes and for starting pro-Crows chants within the crowd

Crows supporter group president Peter Kauschke referred us to a News24 opinion monologue

‘And they certainly stop seeing context. Instead, they just see skin colour, and reach for the nearest pitchfork.’

Ms McKaye told local media on Sunday: ‘I just thought it would be more realistic [to have black paint on her skin], that’s why I’ve got black gloves as well.

‘A lot of people have thought the costume was cool and have asked to get photos with me.’

Perth-based race advocate Suresh Rajan said a white person painting her face black in 2026 was ‘incomprehensible’.

‘Her argument is that her intent was not to cause offence,’ he said. ‘Intent does not make a difference in racism matters, it is the outcome of the actions.

‘A number of people have said it was her dressing up as the club’s mascot. 

‘My only comment is that Claude the Crow mascot does not wear the red bow tie, [but] black and white minstrels do.

‘Blackface carries with it a long and deeply racist history of caricaturing, ridiculing and dehumanising black people. 

‘It reduced human beings to grotesque stereotypes for the entertainment of others. That history cannot simply be wished away by saying, “I didn’t mean to offend”.

Controversial golliwog dolls which caricature black people often feature red bow ties

‘Indeed, the AFL itself has previously been unequivocal: any use of blackface is unacceptable.

‘This is particularly disturbing in a sport which owes so much to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players. Indigenous footballers have enriched our national game immeasurably, while too many have simultaneously endured racial abuse from spectators, opponents and social media.

‘We have heard the stories. We have seen the hurt. We have supposedly learned the lessons.

‘So how, in 2026, does someone arrive at an AFL game in blackface without recognising what that imagery represents?’

‘There must be no ambiguity about this. Blackface is racist. Blackface is offensive. Blackface has no place in Australian society – and absolutely no place in Australian football.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Adelaide Football Club for comment.

It’s not the first time the Crows have found themselves embroiled in a race-based scandal.

In 2021, club stalwart Taylor Walker, who served as captain between 2015 and 2019 and will retire at the end of the Crows’ finals campaign, was suspended for six weeks by the AFL after he made a racist comment at an SANFL game.

Crows star Taylor Walker embroiled the club in a race scandal in 2021

Walker, a former club captain, will retire at the end of the Crows’ finals campaign

The comment, made toward Aboriginal North Adelaide player Robbie Young, was reported to the club by one of its own officials.

Walker made a grovelling public statement, and privately apologised to Young.

‘I did not intend to cause harm, but I know and understand that I have caused deep hurt to the official who reported the matter and to Robbie Young, to both of their families and to the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community,’ he said at the time. 

‘The official who reported this showed courage and leadership in calling out what I said, and I am determined to do what I can to emulate his actions.’