A new video shows the moment when a Sesame Street theme park employee allegedly beat up a five-year-old black girl while her father sued $25 million.
Quinton Burns alleges that four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored his daughter Kennedi and other black guests at a meet-and-greet on June 18.
The video opens with the costumed characters dancing in a parade as the employee dressed as the Telly monster walked up to him to wave and shake the hands of several children.
Among the children in the group was Kennedi, who tried to reach the character before walking away and waving his hand at other onlookers. Kennedi then turns to her father with a big frown on her face.
Moments later, an employee dressed as Ernie was seen greeting the same group, but also stopped just to shake Kennedi’s hand.
Sesame Place has explained that the alleged rejection was not intentional and that the employees in these incidents simply cannot see everyone due to the limited field of view of the costume.
Quinton Burns alleges that four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters, including one as the Telly Monster (above), ignored his daughter Kennedi and other black guests at a meet-and-greet on June 18
The video shows Kennedi, 5, reaching for the character, who walked past her while greeting other guests. The child then turns to her father with a look that he says broke his heart
The video also shows that Ernie would snap at the girl. Sesame Place has explained that the workers simply can’t see everyone because of the costume’s limited field of view
“Just looking at her face makes me cry every time I see it,” Burns said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, seeking class action status, was filed in federal court in Philadelphia against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of the Sesame Place, for “pervasive and appalling racial discrimination.”
It comes after a viral video that shows two other black girls from New York apparently snubbed by Rosita during a parade in the park in Langhorne, outside of Philadelphia.
Sesame Place apologized in a statement for that incident, explaining that the actor in the Rosita suit simply couldn’t see their daughter because of the costume’s limited field of view.
The furore caused more families to come forward with similar experiences.
Quinton Burns, left, spoke of his fears on Wednesday as he filed a lawsuit alleging daughter Kennedi, right, was ignored by characters at a Sesame Street theme park parade because she’s black
The lawsuit states that “SeaWorld’s artists easily came into contact with numerous white clients in the same situation.”
At a news conference held Wednesday, one of the family’s attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, called for transparency from SeaWorld and the company to compensate the Burns family.
“She was ignored among a sea of other young white kids who were able to get along, give hugs, give high fives,” Ruff said.
“Kennedi was forced to deal with racism at the age of 5. This is unacceptable and we will not stand by and let this continue,” Ruff said.
The lawsuit follows a video, widely shared on social media, that shows two other black girls from New York apparently being snubbed by a costumed employee during a parade in the park in Langhorne, outside of Philadelphia.
Sesame Workshop – which was careful to explain that Sesame Place is a licensed partner – then posted another statement on its social media Monday night.
Sesame Place responded to the lawsuit in a statement sent to: Eyewitness news, saying: ‘We will review the lawsuit filed on behalf of Mr Burns. We look forward to addressing that claim through the established legal process. We are committed to providing an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience for all of our guests.”
The suit has been filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus reportedly requested a meeting with the leadership at a Sesame Street theme park after a video showing a costumed character waving goodbye to two six-year-old black girls at a parade went viral.
Jodi Brown, the mother of one of the girls, first shared the nine-second music video last weekend in which the Sesame Place character Rosita high-fives a white child and a white woman, then gestures “no” and walks away from the two black girls who reached out for hugs.
Black Caucus members are looking to meet with Cathy Valeriano, general manager of the theme park to “discuss the changes, action plans and training of the park plans,” Fox news news reporter Chad Pergram said Saturday.
The caucus said: “Over the past week, we’ve seen several high-profile examples of racism from the park, including the viral video in which two beautiful little black girls were shamelessly rejected by a character they idolized while hugging white children.”
Sesame Place confirmed the incident in a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday, but said it was a “misunderstanding.”
Brown has claimed that Rosita immediately hugged a white child after beating her daughter and niece, although those events are not shown in the video.
On Saturday, Brown appeared on MSNBC and said she rejected the apologies issued by Sesame Place, the theme park outside of Philadelphia.
“I don’t believe it was real, I believe they were just making statements because of the viral spread of the video,” Brown said.
Brown’s attorney B’Ivory Lamarr appeared next to the mother and repeated his threat to sue the theme park and demand that the unidentified employee in the Rosita costume be fired.
In a statement on Sunday, theme park officials called the now viral moment a “misunderstanding,” saying the mascot probably didn’t see the girls because of the limited view in the costume’s clunky mask.
“Our brand, park and employees stand for inclusiveness and equality in all forms,” the statement reads. “That’s what Sesame Place is all about and we won’t tolerate behavior in our parks that violates that obligation.”
“We are also, and have always been, committed to ensuring that every family and child has the best possible experience at our parks and we are incredibly disappointed when that doesn’t happen.”
“We spoke to the family, apologized and invited them to a special meet-and-greet with our characters,” the statement said.
The park said the actor who plays Rosita – who is not mentioned by name – “wasn’t intentionally ignoring the girls and is devastated by the misunderstanding.”
The statement claimed Rosita gestured “no” to another guest who had asked to hold their child for a photo, “which is not allowed.”
The park also said the mascot probably didn’t see the girls because of the limited visibility in the costume’s impractical mask, which “Sometimes makes it hard to see lower-level” protagonists to “miss guest cuddle requests” every now and then.
“We apologize to these guests for not delivering the experience they expected and we commit ourselves to doing our best to deserve the visit and support of their and all guests,” the statement concluded.