If you haven’t watched the now-viral video that shows the Muppet character Rosita seemingly ignoring two Black children at the Sesame Place amusement park you should. The incident has sparked outrage and now the family has retained an attorney to investigate, and possibly sue.
B’Ivory LaMarr is the attorney representing the family who tried to interact with Rosita at the Philadelphia park, and they want to investigate the incident by interviewing other people who were in attendance.
They are also evaluating other Rosita videos that are popping up online, TMZ reports.
The other clips allegedly show similar situations of Rosita refusing to high-five or interact with kids of color.
LaMarr added that all options are on the table for them, which includes a lawsuit.
The video spread of Saturday’s incident and shows the character giving high fives to people in front of the two young black girls, then allegedly gesturing to them, before denying them the opportunity to interact with her as well.
The family says they’re “completely appalled” and feel the incident was intentional mistreatment of the young girls and also allege that they were verbally told “no” during the brief exchange.
They also aren’t accepting Sesame Place’s response, which was given soon after the clip circulated, saying they quickly addressed the behavior of the employee.
“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,” LaMarr added.
Now that more videos are going around which the family thinks shows this is a pattern and not an isolated incident.
“We will conduct training for our employees so they better understand, recognize and deliver an inclusive, equitable, and entertaining experience to our guests,” a spokesperson from Sesame Place Philadelphia said.
