The theme park itself also reacts to the viral clip, saying, 'The costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests.'
- Jul 20, 2022
AceShowbiz - Kelly Rowland was so upset upon seeing a video of one muppet ignoring two black girls at Sesame Place. The former member of Destiny's Child couldn't hide her anger when weighing in on the now-viral clip.
The said clip showed Rosita, an aqua blue monster, refusing to hug two black kids during a parade in the Philadelphia park. One of the children was visibly confused and disappointed by the rejection.
Addressing the issue, Kelly said in an Instagram Story, "OK so, had that been me, that whole parade would have been in flames." She further argued, "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 on? She deserves an explanation. Hello," the musician stressed. In the caption, she fumed, "TF!!! This just made me So mad!!"
Sesame Place itself has reacted to the Saturday, July 16 incident. "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," so read the statement.
"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 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," it added. "The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding."
"We spoke to the family and extended our apologies and invited them back for a special meet-and-greet opportunity with our characters," the theme park continued. "We apologize to these guests for not delivering the experience they expected and we commit to do our best to earn their and all our guests's visit and support."
"While we hate to rush to judgment to consider 'race' as the motivating factor to explain the performer's actions, such actions both before and after the young girl's request only lead to one conclusion."
However, the family of the two girls in the video was not buying Sesame Place's response. B'Ivory LaMarr, an attorney for the mother and aunt of the kids Joddi Brown, told TMZ, "While we hate to rush to judgment to consider 'race' as the motivating factor to explain the performer's actions, such actions both before and after the young girl's request only lead to one conclusion."
