Family of Kids in Viral Sesame Place Video Hire Lawyer, Fear Denial Was Racial
Sesame Place Video Family of Denied Kids Lawyers Up ... Fear Incident Was Racial
UPDATE
1:44 PM PT -- Jodi Brown, the mother and aunt of the girls in the video, and her attorney B'Ivory LaMarr joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday ... Jodi says it was tough explaining to her daughter and niece why they were ignored, and is concerned they've been negatively affected by the whole incident.
UPDATE
UPDATE
As for legal action, B'Ivory believes it'll be extremely easy to prove there's a pattern of discrimination put forth by the theme park.
UPDATE
They're hoping for a few results to come from all of this, with a proper apology at the forefront.
A viral moment at Sesame Place amusement park appears to show Muppet character Rosita ignoring, or rejecting, 2 Black children -- and now their family's retaining an attorney to investigate, and possibly sue.
B’Ivory LaMarr is the attorney repping the family who interacted with Rosita at the Philadelphia park, and he tells TMZ ... they want to investigate the incident by interviewing other people who were in attendance, and evaluating other Rosita videos popping up online.
The other clips allegedly show similar situations -- Rosita refusing to high-five or interact with kids of color.
LaMarr says all options are on the table for them, including a lawsuit.
JULY 2022
In case you missed it, video spread of Saturday's incident, showing the character giving high fives to people in front of the 2 young girls, then allegedly gesturing to them, but denying them the opportunity to interact as well.
The family says they're "completely appalled" by what they call the intentional mistreatment of the young girls -- they claim they were verbally told "no" during the brief exchange.
They also aren't buying Sesame Place's response, which came soon after the clip went viral ... saying they quickly addressed the behavior of the employee.
LaMarr says, "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."
Activist Tamika Mallory joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" -- she was one of the first to put Sesame Place on blast after its response.
She says it's nothing more than gaslighting, and it adds insult to injury ... she spoke with the mother of the girls who is "really hurt" by what she sees as a lack of apology.
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More videos have spread since Saturday's incident ... which the family thinks shows this is a pattern and not an isolated incident.
A rep for Sesame Place Philadelphia tells TMZ ... the park sincerely apologizes for the family's experience, and adds, "We will conduct training for our employees so they better understand, recognize and deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience to our guests."
Originally Published -- 1:00 AM PT
