Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 12, 2026

Sesame Street hit by more claims of racist behavior

Sesame Street hit by more claims of racist behavior

A couple from Arkansas said their Black son was ignored in favor of white children by Big Bird at a Sesame Street theme park. They're the latest family to accuse the brand of racism.
The Morris' claims come in the wake of a $25 million lawsuit filed by a family following a viral video that appears to show the character Rosita ignoring two young Black girls during a "meet and greet" at Sesame Place in Philadelphia.

The incident has sparked widespread debate in the U.S., with famed civil rights campaigner the Reverend Jesse Jackson involved.

Kimberly said she took Jaheim, then 4, to the popular theme park on March 4. "We went to watch 'story time' with Big Bird, and afterward Jaheim went to go and meet Big Bird.

"With other kids, who were mostly white, he was taking pictures and giving out hugs and high fives.

"Jaheim just wanted a high five but Big Bird was totally different with him. The bird looked directly at him and refused to put his hand out.

"Jaheim was so sad afterwards, it was heartbreaking to see."

Dad Jaren added: "I thought it was just us, but now I'm seeing other people have gone through the same thing and we needed to share our story."

Jaheim and his mom flew to Orlando so that the youngster could go to the theme park to see his favorite Sesame Street characters.

She and her husband said their son was bursting with excitement before they went but when they got there, things started to take a sad turn.

Kimberly said what happened to Jaheim was similar to a video which recently went viral, which appears to show two little Black girls being snubbed by the character Rosita at Sesame Place.

She alleged: "I saw him run back saying sadly 'Mommy, the bird didn't high five me.'

"He was not active with my child despite interacting with all the others. I remember noticing and thinking 'oh wow.'

"It was heartbreaking to see. I wanted to cry when he was reaching his hand out and the bird wouldn't touch him."

The parents said that since then, Jaheim has grown less and less fond of Sesame Street, having been a huge fan before they went to the theme park.

They say they are "worried" to hear it wasn't a one-time incident.

"We won't go back there ever again. They need to do better," Kimberly said.

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit group behind Sesame Street, was approached for comment and shared a previous statement about the original viral incident, refusing to offer anything more specific to Jaheim's experience.

It said: "Sesame Workshop is aware of the recent incident at Sesame Place Philadelphia, which we take very seriously. What these children experienced is unacceptable.

"We have been in contact with Sesame Place, our licensed park partner, and they have assured us that they will conduct bias training and a thorough review of the ways in which they engage with families and guests.

"As a global nonprofit educational organization with a mission to help children grow smarter, stronger and kinder, Sesame Workshop has always stood for respect, inclusion and belonging and is committed to providing the highest quality engaging experiences for all children and families.

"We hold our partners to the same high standards.

"We will continue working with our long-term partner Sesame Place to ensure that appropriate actions are taken and that incidents like this do not happen in the future."

Sesame Place then suggested Zenger News contact SeaWorld, which runs Sesame Street Land in Orlando.

A SeaWorld employee offered a comment, which they asked to be attributed to Sesame Street Land.

It said: "We want every child who comes to our park to feel included, seen and inspired and we are disappointed to learn that this child came away from his experience in our park feeling disappointed.

"This is the first time we have been made aware of this incident and are reaching out to the family to speak with them about it."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Following Massive Investor Demand: SK Hynix Raises 26.5 Billion Dollars on Nasdaq
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
After Four Years, and Under a Heavy Veil of Secrecy: King Charles Meets His Grandchildren, Harry and Meghan's Children
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
Westminster in Freefall as Farage's By-Election Gamble Triggers Broader Systemic Crises
Institutional Fractures and Political Volatility Reshape Britain's Domestic Landscape
Deadly Fire, Health Emergencies and Political Upheaval Shape a Volatile Global News Cycle
Flight Instructor Jumped to His Death — Student Landed the Plane: "You Know What You Need to Do"
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Prince Harry Suffers Major Court Defeat in Legal Battle Against Daily Mail Publisher
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh Singer Behind Total Eclipse of the Heart, Dies at 75
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Federal Financial Framework Shifts as Treasury Launches Universal Savings Program for Minors
French Court Allows Le Pen to Run for Presidency, but with an Electronic Tag: "I Will Appeal, and I Will Run"
$1.4 Trillion: The Lawsuit That Could Crush Meta
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
UK Daily Briefing: Legal Developments and Social Issues
Political Turmoil and Rising Costs
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Deep Purple Has Released Its Best Album in Decades
Microsoft Lays Off 4,800 Employees and Xbox Suffers the Hardest Blow
Morocco and France Advance as 2026 FIFA World Cup Enters Quarterfinals.
Historic 2026 Tour de France Opens in Barcelona With Revamped Team Time Trial.
Global Mergers and Acquisitions Approach $4 Trillion Defying Geopolitical Tumult.
Negotiators Advance 20-Point Framework for Gaza Ceasefire and Demilitarization.
OECD Warns Middle East Conflict Will Depress Global Economic Growth.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg.
World Meteorological Organization Issues Urgent Alert Over Rapidly Intensifying El Niño.
United States Commemorates 250th Anniversary With Diplomatic Summits and Global Flotilla.
Iran Begins Days-Long Funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei Amid Strait of Hormuz Standoff.
Technology giant reports surging carbon emissions driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure demands.
Artificial intelligence adoption accelerates workforce reductions across the technology and financial sectors.
Global technology and financial conglomerates collaborate to launch a new stablecoin standard.
United States regulators lift export restrictions on a major frontier artificial intelligence model.
Luxury bags take over the World Cup: style, status symbol, or just showing off?
×