Sesame Place, the iconic Sesame Street-themed amusement park in Philadelphia, has reportedly quietly removed its “Rosita” character from several of the park’s attractions after one black mother complained that a performer dressed as the puppet shunned her two young daughters because of the color of their skin.
Which, if true, is wildly ironic, given the Rosita character’s own Mexican heritage.
The whole thing started several weeks ago when a woman named Jodi Brown posted a video to Instagram claiming that the performer, who was dressed up as the Mexican puppet “Rosita,” rebuffed her daughter and her niece, both 6-year-old black girls, as they tried to hug the character and give her a high-five during the park parade, claiming the employee intentionally ignored them before going on to high-five a little white girl standing nearby.
The park responded to the allegations by saying the worker didn’t mean any offense, and that the “costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests from guests.”
The park added that the whole thing was a misunderstanding, saying the employee was actually trying to tell another nearby guest “No” after being asked to hold the person’s child – which the park’s rules don’t allow – and that the mom misunderstood the gesture as being directed at her daughters who were asking for a hug.
When that explanation failed to appease the mob, the park later promised to mandate that all staff attend “inclusivity training.”
That wasn’t a good enough for the angered family, though, who are now suing the park for $25 million over the alleged “racism.”
Now, the Daily Mail is reporting that several Sesame Place employees say the Spanish-speaking Rosita character has suddenly disappeared from the park’s daily parade, that her merchandise has been filtered out of park stores, and that a restaurant themed after her has been shuttered for weeks.
The outlet shared photos of recent Sesame Place parades, with Rosita notably absent. Staff members also reportedly said that all costumed characters have been told to stay on the floats and not interact with the audience for fear of offending someone else.
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“None of the characters walk the street in the parade any more, and any meet and greets for [Rosita] have been called off,” the worker said, per the Daily Mail. “That is all because of the allegations, they don’t want anyone potentially making the same claims.”
“Essentially, Rosita has been cancelled and I don’t think she’ll be back any time soon,” they added.
Meanwhile, the “Rosita’s Cosina” eatery has remained boarded up since the incident, workers say, claiming, “There hasn't been a real explanation as to why.”
The Daily Mail said Sesame Place wouldn’t confirm Rosita’s removal, or respond to questions as to why the character or merchandise sporting her seems to have disappeared from the park.
As for the family, they’re claiming their daughters were traumatized by the incident, have been “forced into isolation" from the stress, and are now in therapy to cope with having not gotten a hug from a fictional puppet character from a TV show.
And none of which, I’m sure, has anything at all to do with being trotted out in front of the entire world as part of a multi-million-dollar publicity stunt.