UPDATE: Mother Says She Does Not Accept Sesame Place’s Apology After Character Ignores Her Daughters During Parade: “That statement disrespectful and distasteful. I Am Hurt”
As we previously reported, Kelly Rowland took to Instagram on Sunday and expressed anger over a now-viral video that shows two Black children seemingly being ignored by one of the characters during a parade.
The incident took place at the Sesame Place theme park in Philadelphia. The singer reposted the video to her Instagram stories and voiced her frustration on behalf of those involved. She said, “Ok so, had that been me, that whole parade would have been in flames,” Rowland said to her followers. “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 one? She deserves an explanation. Hello.” She wrote on her stories, “TF! This just made me So mad!”
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Following the backlash online, the official Sesame Place Instagram account released a statement on the incident, claiming it was the result of a misunderstanding. “Our brand, our park, and our employees stand for inclusivity and equality in all forms,” the statement read. “Regarding the incident yesterday, the costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests. 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. We apologize to these guests for not delivering the experience they expected.” The mother has since responded to the statement and she feels like it made the situation even worse and vowed to keep reposting the video until it is “rectified.” She said,
“I never asked for that character to take a picture and As I am watching my video I don’t believe that family asked either. I wholeheartedly feel as though that statement was released to save face. Also, a [manager] reached out to me earlier via phone convo. I responded via dm to confirm.” She continued: “Since the post went viral no communication was had since then! [Sesame Place] instead of trying to save face you should of gave a public apology to my girls! That statement is disrespectful and distasteful. Talk about adding insult to injury. I will re-post this video every day until it is rectified.”
Other people who are not buying their apology is famed attorney Ben Crump. He called the incident “absolutely heartbreaking” for the “two young queens,” while movie producer Tariq Nasheed called for the employee to be fired.
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