Sesame Place Apologizes to the Brown Family and Takes Action to Deliver a More Equitable and Inclusive Experience

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Jul 23, 2022, 14:43 ET

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., July 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sesame Place Philadelphia apologizes to the Brown family. The park is taking action to deliver a more equitable and inclusive experience. The park releases the following statement today.

"We sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize to the Brown family for what they experienced. To be very clear, what the two young girls experienced, what the family experienced, is unacceptable. It happened in our park, with our team, and we own that. It is our responsibility to make this better for the children and the family and to be better for all families.

We have been in contact with the family since Sunday morning and have spoken with their lawyers as recently as today. We have offered to meet the family and their attorneys in person to personally deliver an apology and an acknowledgement that we are holding ourselves accountable for what happened. We want to listen to them to understand how the experience impacted their family and to understand what we can do better for them and all guests who visit our parks. We are committed to learning all we can from this situation to make meaningful change. We want every child who comes to our park to feel included, seen and inspired.

We are taking action and are reviewing our practices to identify necessary changes, both in the immediate and long-term. We are instituting mandatory training for all our employees so that we can better recognize, understand, and deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience for all our guests.  We have engaged with nationally recognized experts in this area.  

We take this extremely seriously. We are heartbroken by what these young girls and this family experienced in our park. It is antithetical to our values, principles, and purpose.  We are committed to working tirelessly and intentionally to make this situation better. We will do the necessary work for the long haul -- not just in the public eye, but also behind the scenes and within ourselves."

About Sesame Place

Sesame Place Philadelphia, the only theme park on the East Coast based entirely on the award-winning show, Sesame Street®, was the first theme park in the world to become a Certified Autism Center. The park has more than 25 Sesame Street-themed attractions, entertaining character shows and parades, an interactive Sesame Street Neighborhood, and everyone's favorite furry friends. Celebrate family-friendly events all year long at Sesame Place including Elmo's Furry Fun Fest, Elmo's Eggstravaganza, Elmo's Springtacular, Summer Fun Fest, The Count's Halloween Spooktacular, and A Very Furry Christmas. Conveniently located 30 minutes from Philadelphia and 90 minutes from NYC, Sesame Place is ideal for families with kids of all ages. For more information, visit www.sesameplace.com and follow the park on Facebook and Instagram.

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SOURCE Sesame Place