Over the weekend, an incident took place during a parade at Philadelphia’s Sesame Place theme park and has continued to unfold. As seen on a viral video posted, an employee dressed as the Rosita character from “Sesame Street” appeared to wave off two little Black girls after high-fiving other children just prior.
Since then, Sesame Place has issued a statement that included an apology, explanation, and invitation for the family to come back for a special meet-and-greet. The explanation they provided said that the “no” hand gesture from the Rosita character was in response to people in the crowd who “asked Rosita to hold their child for a photo, which is not permitted.”
However, Jodi, the mother who posted the original video, was quick to refute Sesame Place’s explanation and posted her response on her Instagram story.
“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,” Jodi began. “I wholeheartedly feel as though that statement was released to save face… Since the post went video no communication was had since then. Sesame Place instead of trying to save face you should have 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 everyday until it is rectified. I really tried to handle this situation calm as possible but I am hurt, and that response just made it worse!… Don’t try to tell me he can’t see lower levels. He looked at them and said no! So embarrasing and hurtful.”
You can view the original video of the incident, Sesame Place’s apology, and Jodi’s response down below.