A Chuck E. Cheese mascot in New Jersey has been accused of racial discrimination by the mother of a young black girl who says the costumed character intentionally ignored her daughter after giving attention to a group of white children.
The mother, who identifies herself as Safa on Twitter, posted a video of the incident on Sunday. The clip appears to show the mascot snubbing Safa’s daughter when she tries to get a high fave after the character high-fived four white children. “My 2yo was racially discriminated against,” the mom wrote. “As you can see, he gives all of the yt kids hi-5s & PURPOSELY ignored my black baby. When confronted, he ignored me as well.”
READ MORE: Black Family Sues Sesame Place, Alleging Discrimination
Safa added that she approached the manager about the incident but says the person “made excuses for him” and said “she’s ‘sorry I feel that way.'” Safa also tweeted that she showed her video to the manager but the manager was unmoved. “Please make this go viral,” the mom implored on Twitter. “This is getting out of hand!!!”
Saying she’s “sorry I feel that way” but he didn’t see her, even after showing her the PROOF in the video. Please make this go viral like y’all did with that “co-wife” tweet! This is getting out of hand!!!
— Umm Safa 🩰 (@belllahijabi) July 31, 2022
Though some on Twitter debated whether the person in the Chuck E. Cheese costume could see the young girl from their vantage point, Safa said that there was no way the mascot couldn’t have spotted her daughter. She tweeted, “IN MY VIDEO, he looked down at my child after high-fiving the last child on stage. HE SAW HER.”
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And IN MY VIDEO, he looked down at my child after high-fiving the last child on stage. HE SAW HER‼️
— Umm Safa 🩰 (@belllahijabi) August 1, 2022
Safa said that her daughter did get a photo with the Chuck E. Cheese mascot but only after she spoke with a manager.
Not so much. pic.twitter.com/NHzY7H1Igj
— Umm Safa 🩰 (@belllahijabi) August 1, 2022
The incident comes just weeks after a similar allegation of discrimination was leveled against a costumed Sesame Street character at Philadelphia’s Sesame Place amusement park.