This kid dressed as Christian Grey for World Book Day — but his school was not happy about it

When 11-year-old Liam Scholes’ school encouraged students to dress as their favorite literary characters for World Book Day, he had a hilarious idea. Liam didn’t dress as an obvious choice for an 11 year old, like Harry Potter or Greg Heffley from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Nope, Liam decided to waltz into school dressed to the nines as Christian Grey, from 50 Shades of Grey.

Officials at Liam’s school were not as amused as we are. Liam’s costume was spot on. He even brought his own eyemask and cable ties. And before you think this precocious kid pulled one over on all of the adults in his life, think again: His mom, Nicola, was totally on board with the plan.

“We thought it was funny,” Nicola, who is from Sale in Greater Manchester, said. “We were walking home from school and he had the idea of going as Christian Grey.” She then helped him create this delightfully hilarious Kid Grey costume:

Liam’s teachers didn’t share Nicola’s sense of humor though. They told him the outfit was inappropriate and reportedly banned him from participating in the World Book Day activities and class pictures.

“I got a phone call home from the school saying the outfit was inappropriate and that he had been excluded from taking part or being in any of the photographs,” she explained to the Manchester Evening News.

She also added that one of Liam’s teachers came dressed as the lead character from the book/TV series Dexter, who, in case you’re out of the cultural loop, is a serial killer. This puzzling choice led Nicola to point out, “I don’t see why sex is seen as more offensive than murder.”

Touché, Nicola. And she hasn’t backed down. She’s still defending Liam’s costume, this time on television. She told Good Morning Britain, “I don’t regret allowing him to go as that character. Every child of the age of 11 knows who [Christian Grey] is. He walked into school yesterday and every child knew who he was, so I don’t think he’s gone as something that’s not been accessible to children of his age before.”

Liam’s school isn’t backing down, either. It released the following statement in regards to the incident:

While it is a little shocking to think that every 11 year old in Liam’s class knew enough about 50 Shades of Grey to recognize the costume on sight, it’s still a pretty hilarious choice.