Chuck E. Cheese 'Purposely' Snubbed Black Child In Wayne, Parent Says

WAYNE, NJ — A costumed employee at Chuck E. Cheese in Wayne failed to acknowledge a Black toddler after high-fiving a row of predominantly white children. The child's parent uploaded a video of Saturday's incident and claims the employee "purposely" ignored their child.

The video, which has millions of views, shows a row of children on stage during an announcement for celebrating "birthday stars." An employee donning a Chuck E. Cheese costume walked by the front of the stage and gave them high fives, while a 2-year-old Black girl jumped with joy.

After the mouse high-fived the children on stage, the Black toddler turned to Chuck E. and put her hand up for a high five. The costumed employee appears to look in her direction but doesn't high-five her. The employee then walks away.

The children on stage who received high fives are all white, according to the parent who shared the video.

After Chuck E. looks away, the Black child turns and points at him, appearing to communicate with someone off-screen. "I see," says an adult voice not on camera, before the 15-second clip ends.

The child's parent confronted the costumed employee but was also ignored, according to the parent who uploaded the video. The parent told the manager, who "made excuses for him... Saying she's 'sorry I feel that way' but he didn't see her, even after showing her the PROOF in the video," according to the parent.

Watch the video here.

The corporation sent Patch the following statement via email:

"Chuck E. Cheese is saddened when any family or child has a less than perfect experience. We want to thank the family who brought this to our attention at our Wayne, NJ location and for giving the onsite manager an opportunity to apologize and address their concerns in person."

It wasn't immediately clear whether the statement is referencing the parent alerting the manager at the Wayne location — who the parent claims made excuses for the employee — or whether this refers to communications they've had since then. It also wasn't apparent from the statement whether the Wayne location or the company apologized to the family or whether the family merely gave the manager the chance to do so. Patch asked for clarification and will update with any response.

The brand's statement continues as follows:

"As home to millions of families and kids every year that celebrate the big and small milestones, including fun, our goal is to create an inclusive experience for children and parents of all ages, races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, and learning differences. Our mission is to provide a fun and a safe place Where A Kid Can Be A Kid, and all cast members are trained to ensure that we live up to this promise."

Racial discrimination at children's entertainment venues, such as theme parks, is part of United States history and represented one of many important battles during the civil rights movement. But the issue resurfaced on social media in the midst of accusations that costumed employees at Sesame Place have outright ignored Black guests.

The Pennsylvania theme park faced criticism when a family shared a video that appeared to show two 6-year-old Black girls watching a parade while Sesame Street character Rosita high-fived other attendees. When the girls reached out to Rosita as she approached, the character wagged her finger and shook her head as she passed the children.

The video, shared July 16, went viral, and several people shared similar experiences involving costumed characters and their interactions — or lack thereof — with Black children. Amid calls for Sesame Place boycotts, the NAACP and Congressional Black Caucus asked to meet with executives at the park's parent company, Seaworld Parks and Entertainment.

Sesame Place Pennsylvania formally apologized to the family July 19 and invited them back for a personal meet-and-greet with the characters. They also announced their employees would undergo racial-bias training.

The park faces a $25 million class-action lawsuit over how its costumed characters have allegedly treated Black children.

Related articles:

• Sesame Place Again Apologizes To Snubbed Black Family, Pledges Change
• $25 Million Lawsuit Filed Against Sesame Place

Disneyland faces a similar allegation after a social media video shows an employee dressed as Rapunzel seemingly ignoring Black children in a crowd of guests.

Several people replying to the viral post about Chuck E. Cheese compared the situation to Sesame Place's. Here were some of the comments:

• "WTF is going on? First sesame street then Disney now chuck e cheese? I’m livid," tweeted @thatgworlj.
• "I see people defending the mascot by saying that maybe the head made it hard to see," wrote Twitter user @GabeLorenzo2. "I dressed as the mascot briefly at the community college I attended. The mouth is a one-way, see-through mesh. And I could see everything that was going on, just fine. They could see the girl."

Twitter user @JanasiaZolanski also countered someone else's point that the mascot costume may have prevented the employee from seeing the child, showing a video of a different person in the mouse costume having no issue seeing smaller children in front of them.