A family in Louisiana is calling out Chuck E. Cheese's for alleged racist behavior after an employee in the iconic mouse character appeared to ignore their daughter, who is black.
Damon Payne filmed his 3-year-old daughter, Dynver, trying to hug and greet Chuck E. multiple times on their visit to the restaurant in Metairie, LA on Monday in celebration of her birthday. However sadly, the little girl kept getting turned away from the mouse as he looked to purposely greet other white children instead of her. “You don’t see her?” Payne can be heard asking the employee. “She’s right here.”
After their visit, Payne posted the video to Facebook with the caption, “MY KIDS WILL NEVER STEP FOOT BACK IN Chuck E Cheeses. #racismdoesntcarewhatage. Please do me a favor share this and tag anybody with power she didn’t deserve that. That’s at the one in Metairie, LA.
When he showed the manager the video, the restaurant offered him and his family 50 free tickets to redeem at the gift shop, which is just down right disrespectful.
The following day, on Tuesday (Nov. 26), a different manager contacted him and said the company’s policy is for the character not to initiate contact with a child. “Our cast members are trained not to initiate physical contact with the children - in case they are afraid of Chuck E.,” a representative from Chuck E. Cheese said in a statement. “We want to assure our guests that we take great measures to protect the experience all children and families have in our restaurants.”