A man dressed as Santa Claus in Forest City, North Carolina is being bashed after a mother and her son claimed that the fictional character fat-shamed the nine-year-old kid. The man in the Santa Claus costume reportedly told the child to quit eating junk.
The mother was identified as Ashley Mayse and her son was identified as Anthony Mayse. During a holiday event, the man that was dressed as Santa Claus made an un-Santa-like comment towards Anthony, who said that he talked to Santa wishing for an iPod Touch and a drone this year but Santa told him to "Lay off the hamburgers and French fries," CNN reported.
Anthony noted that he felt bad, disrespected and awful after the remark. The nine-year-old said he went out of the event then started crying because he felt so bad. The mother said that she felt sad for her son and wished that they have never attended the event so that her son was not insulted the way he was.
Anthony cried until he went to bed that night then tore the souvenir photo showing him and the mean Santa Claus, The Cairns Post reported. The man who played Santa Claus during the said event has since resigned from his post and has apologized to Anthony and his mother.
John Condrey, the city manager of Forest City, said that the man behind the Santa costume said he regretted what he did. The man has not been publicly identified. The mother reportedly wants a harsher punishment but it was not stated what she wanted.
Condrey added in his statement that a town representative has spoken to the mother of Anthony and also apologized to her. The mean Santa was supposed to have appearances for the next two Fridays and Saturdays but he reportedly informed them he would no longer provide his service as Santa Claus.
Do you think that Santa Claus was too mean to the child? Let us know what you think about this not-so-Merry incident for the holidays.
