Sesame Place accused of racism after character appears to ignore two Black girls

In a horrifying video that goes against just about everything Sesame Street stands for, a character at the Sesame Place theme park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania appears to deliberately snub two young Black girls.

In the viral video, posted on Instagram by the mother of the girls, the Rosita character appears to rebuff the attempted high fives while making a “no” gesture with her arms.

To add insult to injury, the costumed character is clearly seen giving high fives to requests from white patrons immediately prior to the incident.

The girls’ mother wrote:

“I’m going to keep posting this, because this had me hot. We were on our way out of sesame place and the kids wanted to stop to see the characters. THIS DISGUSTING person blatantly told our kids NO then proceeded to hug the little white girl next to us! Then when I went to complain about it, they looking at me like I’m crazy.”

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The clip sparked fury online with Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland sharing to her stories and adding:

“Okay so had that been me, that whole parade would have been in flames. Like, are you serious? You’re not going to speak to my child? And did you see that baby’s face at the end? The little one with the pink on? She deserves an explanation.”

Sesame Place was quick to put out a statement on social media, claiming the incident was not racially motivated and the whole thing had been a misunderstanding. It read:

“Our brand, our park and our employees stand for inclusivity and equality in all forms. That is what Sesame Place is all about and we do not tolerate any behaviours in our parks that are contrary to that commitment.”

The statement continued:

“The performer portraying the Rosita character has confirmed that the ‘no’ hand gesture seen several times in the video was not directed to any specific person, rather it was a response to multiple requests from someone in the crowd who asked Rosita to hold their child for a photo which is not permitted. The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding.”

The park has reached out to the family with an apology and invited them back to the park for a meet-and-greet opportunity with the characters. Whether this is damage limitation or it genuinely was a colossal misunderstanding, it’s impossible to know.

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