A mother of two young Black girls is calling out Sesame Place Philadelphia after she says her daughters were intentionally dismissed by a performer dressed as a Sesame Street character over the weekend, sparking a fierce backlash online.
In the now viral video posted Saturday on the mother’s Instagram account, two young girls are seen excitedly reaching out to the character Rosita, the first bilingual muppet on Sesame Street. Although it appears that the performer had interacted with other children before reaching the girls, the video seems to show the character shaking their head “no” in the direction of the two young Black girls.
“We were on our way out of sesame place and the kids wanted to stop to see the characters,” the mom wrote on Instagram. “THIS DISGUSTING person blatantly told our kids NO then proceeded to hug the little white girl next to us!”
In response, Sesame Place Philadelphia said in a statement on Instagram Sunday that it the performer did not direct the “no” hand gesture, which was used more than once in the video, toward “any specific person,” but was instead gesturing that way in “response to multiple requests from someone in the crowd who asked Rosita to hold their child for a photo which is not permitted.” It added that the performer "is devastated about the misunderstanding" and noted the costumes its performers wear “sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels” and that sometimes “performers miss hug requests from guests.”
NBC News has not verified the allegations.
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