SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 25: A group of Sesame Street characters perform Welcome to Our Street in a theater during the exclusive media preview to Sesame Place San Diego on Friday, March 25, 2022 in San Diego, CA. The park will officially open to the public on March 26th. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Sesame Place Philadelphia is receiving backlash and being accused of racism after a mother of two alleges her Black daughters were shunned by Rosita, a Sesame Street character. The park has since denied the accusations of racism.
A video posted by a woman named Jodi shows the two young girls watching the parade with excitement. When they notice Rosita walking by, they reach out for a hug or some interaction.
But while Rosita can be seen high-fiving other people near the kids, the character signals a “no” hand gesture while standing in front of the girls and walks away without acknowledging them.
Leaving them with a rather devastating look on their faces, the mother shared the footage on Instagram Sunday and detailed what happened:
We were on our way out of sesame place and the kids wanted to stop to see the characters.
She continued to say:
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, the looking at me like I”m crazy.
The mother also said she would never visit Sesame Place again.
Hours later and after several thousand reshares of the video posted to Jodi’s IG account, Sesame Place denied accusations of racism in the statement.
Sesame Place stated their “park and our employees stand for inclusivity and equality in all forms.” The statement also said the uniforms can make it difficult to see the kids sometimes.
…the costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests.
The statement continued to say that the “no” gesture was for someone else and not directed to the children.
The performer portraying the Rosita character has confirmed that the ‘no’ hand gesture seen several times in the video was not directed at 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 in not permitted.
They also invited the family back for a “special” meet and greet and apologized.
People on social media responded to the statement from Sesame Place and didn’t approve of it. One person tweeted:
Another person also added:
R&B singer and mother of two Kelly Rowland chimed in and gave her opinion about the situation. She stated:
Okay so had that been me, that whole parade would have been in flames,” she said. “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?
The Shade Room contacted Sesame Place for a comment.
Roomies, do you think the kids were ignored, or was this a big misunderstanding?
