It’s no sunny day at Sesame Place because they’re gettin’ slapped with a $25 million class action racial discrimination lawsuit!
On the heels of several videos that show Sesame Place characters ignoring black children, Quinton Burns—the father of 5-year-old daughter, Kennedi—is taking them straight to the bank for racial discrimination. Baltimore-based attorneys Murphy, Falcon & Murphy made the announcement yesterday along with a release of another video that shows several characters—Elmo, Ernie, Telly Monster, and Abby Cadabby specifically—snubbing little Kennedi, NBC Philadephia reports.
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“Racism is horrible when it’s perpetrated against adults, but it’s in a separate category altogether of horror when it’s perpetrated against kids who can’t fight back and who have to struggle to understand how ugly it is and how it must be eliminated from every aspect of American life,” said one of Burns’ lawyers.
The filing, which seeks $25 million in damages, also notes that Kennedi’s case is not isolated as 25 to 30 other families have come forward with claims of racial discrimination, DailyMail reports—including Jodi Brown who released the now-viral video of two black girls, one of them her daughter, being ignored by the Rosita character.
Cathy Valeriano, Sesame Place’s President and General Manager, told Action News they’re “heartbroken as an organization” that children were ignored, and since they’re “committed to deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience” for all guests, they look forward to “addressing that claim through the established legal process,” 6ABC reports.
What do you think of the $25 million class action lawsuit? Tune in to see what our Dish Nation hosts think about this Sesame Place scandal.
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