Outrage Over Sesame Place Rosita Snub!

Snub heard around the world.

I want to not jump to conclusions and I seen the social media outrage of a character snubbing two Black girls at a theme park in Philadelphia.

Rosita, a Muppet character on Sesame Street. The person who dressed as the loveable Muppet was seen giving high fives to spectators along a parade route. As soon as two Black girls go up to the character looking for a hug or high five, the character shook its head and moved on.

It was recorded by their mother and thus shared on social media.

This is absolutely HEARTBREAKING! 💔 These two young Queens did NOT deserve to be blatantly singled out and ignored by this #SesameStreet character! @SesamePlace MUST address their staff's disgusting behavior! 🎥: IG/__jodiii__ pic.twitter.com/07shnhEGvM

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 18, 2022

The same employee in a 4th video exposing their anti-Black racism to another Black child. All of the Black parents need to file a lawsuit since sesame place is trying to give cover to the anti-Black racist employee!#AntiBlackRacism #BoycottSesamePlace https://t.co/nTIAiYEzPd

— LilMissFirecrackerReloaded (@LilMissfirecra5) July 18, 2022

@SesamePlace here is another video with the same pattern of ignoring Black children pic.twitter.com/b8oJuhSfdS

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) July 18, 2022

Hello @SesamePlace

The employee who performs in the Rosita costume seems to engage in a pattern of deliberately ignoring Black children who tries to engage with the character. This employee needs to be fired TODAY, unless Sesame Place condones this type of anti-Black energy pic.twitter.com/PThOwsnS5F

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) July 18, 2022

Of course, Tariq Nasheed, Jeffrey Shaun King, Ben Crump and others rush to claim it was racism.

No it was the "No Hug" policy Sesame Place Philadelphia enforced during the pandemic.

Pennsylvania mother shares a video of her daughters being ignored by Rosita.

Not saying the snub was in good taste, but I feel like they blew this situation out of proportion. 

When King and Crump get involved, it is a red flag. They usually exploit Black pain for profit.

Or could I be wrong? 

Someone posted a video of Rosita character ignoring another Black child.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sesame Place Philadelphia (@sesameplace)

The mother alleges that the character ignored her daughters but went on to hug other children waiting in the area. 

The video has been viewed more than 315,000 times since being posted on Instagram. 

According to the mother who posted the video, she asked Sesame Place employees if she could see a supervisor but she says she never did. 

Since the video went viral, celebrities, including Kelly Rowland, have reacted on social media. 

On Sunday, Sesame Place released a statement saying, "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 no tolerate any behaviors in our parks that are contrary to that commitment."

"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 theme park said. "The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding." 

The park also says it has reached out to the family, apologized and invited them for a special meet-and-greet opportunity with the park characters. 

"We apologize to these guests for not delivering the experience they expected and we commit to do our best to earn their and all guests' visit and support." 

The mother reacted to Sesame Place's statement on social media, alleging that she's had no communication with the theme park since trying to confirm a time to speak. 

She also says she believes the statement was released to save their appearance and reputation. 

"The character could've just waved to everyone or just kept walking, but to blatantly look at my kids and say no! … He looked at them and said no!! So embarrassing and hurtful. I will repost this video everyday until the situation is handled."