Viewed more than 700,000 times on Instagram, a nine-second video showing a Sesame Street mascot refusing to hug two black children during a parade in Sesame Place park near Philadelphia has created an outcry in the last days.
The mum who took her daughter and niece to the park posted the video to Instagram, writing, “This disgusting person flat out said NO to our kids then gave the little white girl next to us a hug! She also added that she would “never set foot in the amusement park again.”
Since the incident, which occurred last weekend, the family has hired a lawyer, and they could start a lawsuit. In an Instagram post, B’Ivory LaMarr, the attorney representing the family, said they consider what happened to be “nothing less than intentional abuse,” and that they “will exercise all legal remedies” to hold the park accountable.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, the amusement park said it apologized to the family and offered them a return visit.
In a separate statement, Sesame Workshop said Sesame Place, which is its licensing partner, is committed to “conducting bias training and a thorough review of how it interacts with families and visitors.”
— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) July 18, 2022
The park first explained that the incident may have been a “misunderstanding”, as the character used the same refusal gesture more than once in response to requests from several people in the crowd who wanted Rosita to hold. their children for a photo, which is not allowed. He also added that wearing the suit can reduce the visual field and prevent the wearer from seeing downwards.
Some social media users have been calling for a boycott of the amusement park since new videos emerged showing mascots seemingly ignoring black children, including @champagne_tio, who uploaded a video of her five-year-old daughter. He specifies in his publication that she was “ignored by several characters […] and was brushed aside” by the employee in the video.