Sesame Workshop, a non-profit organization behind sesame squareresponded to a viral video that appears to depict a racially biased incident that took place at Sesame Place in Philadelphia over the weekend.
Leslie Mack, Sunday Morning Digital Strategist posted a video on Twitter to celebrate daughter Paige’s fourth birthday over the weekend. In the nine-second clip, Paige and another girl, both black, accompany a parade of characters and shake hands with an artist dressed in a Rosita costume. Rosita meets up with the other park visitors before avoiding Paige and her friend, shaking her head as she walks away from them.
“This is how #SesamePlace treated these beautiful black kids,” Mack captioned the video, which had 7.3 million views at the time of publication. The video went viral on Monday and was shared by others. Similarly videos Sesame Place characters who seem to ignore black children when interacting with other people.
The incident attracted the attention of many Hollywood figures. “These beautiful girls will never forget that feeling!” Kelly Rowland wrote in response on Sesame Place’s Instagram account, and Audra McDonald On twitter“It’s absolutely disgusting.”
“Every black woman was once a black girl who had that look when things broke our hearts in America.” On twitter Yvette Nicole Brown and Wendell Pierce shared this disappointment can also happen to children: “Looking [this moment] It reminds me of mine. On Mardi Gras Day, at age 4, they put aside the joy I see in other children and realized the horrible reality.
Sesame Place posted an initial response to its Instagram account on Sunday night, explaining that the costumes sometimes obstructed the performers’ view and that the employee who portrayed Rosita’s “no” gesture was a general response to deny it. which is against the park. policy. “We spoke to the family, apologized and invited them for a special opportunity to meet and greet our characters,” the statement said.
But Maka said so. Did not happen. “This statement is the first and only time the family has heard of this offer and Sesame Place has stopped communicating via email,” he said. On twitter. “The entire statement is a lie.”
On Monday afternoon, Sesame Workshop, which was careful to point out that Sesame Place is an authorized partner, weighed in. “What these children have gone through is unacceptable,” he said. your statement on social media “We have reached out to Sesame Place, our licensed park, and they have assured us that they will conduct prejudice training and thoroughly review ways to interact with families and visitors.”
Minutes after the nonprofit made its announcement, Sesame Place Philadelphia followed suit. new pinned tweet:: “We sincerely apologize to the family for their experience at our park on Saturday; We know it’s not good. We will provide training for our employees to understand, recognize and provide a better inclusive, fair and fun experience for our guests.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
