A video of two Black girls visiting Sesame Place over the weekend went viral after one of the girls’ mothers captured a moment of the two young girls being ignored by the Sesame Street character Rosita after she previously interacted with a white child and white adult. Kelly Rowland was one of many who joined in reacting to the video.
“Ok so, had that been me, that whole parade would have been in flames,” Rowland said to her followers on Instagram on Sunday (July 17). “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 Destiny’s Child alum also wrote on her Instagram Story, “TF! This just made me So mad!”
The video has been shared over 300,000 times. “I’m going to keep posting this, because this had me hot,” she said in the caption of the video.
“THIS DISGUSTING person blatantly told our kids NO then proceeded to hug the little white girl next to us! Then when I went to complain about it, they looking at me like I’m crazy,” she continued. “I will never step foot in @sesameplace ever again ! And please feel free to repost this.”
Sesame Place has since responded to the racist allegations via a statement posted on their Instagram, “Our brand, our park, and our employees stand for inclusivity and equality in all forms,” the statement read. “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.”
“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 statement also added that a park representative spoke to the family, apologized, and offered a special meet-and-greet opportunity. However, the mother responded to the Sesame Place statement via her Instagram Story which seemingly suggested what the amusement park put in their statement was not 100% true.
“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. I wholeheartedly feel as though that statement was released to save face. Also a [manager] reached out to me earlier via phone convo. I responded via dm to confirm.”
She continued: “Since the post went viral no communication was had since then! [Sesame Place] instead of trying to save face you should of gave a public apology to my girls! That statement disrespectful and distasteful. Talk about adding insult to injury. I will re-post this video every day until it is rectified.”
Rowland was not the only one who blasted the amusement park for its actions. Take a look at how Twitter weighed in on the video.
