A town Santa reportedly fat shamed a 9-year-old boy during his visit, reducing the child to tears.
Anthony Mayse said he asked Santa in his town of Forest City, North Carolina, for an iPod and a drone for Christmas, but before sending the boy on his way, Santa told him to "lay off the hamburgers and french fries," CNN reported.
Although some have pointed out that Santa doesn’t really have room to talk about weight, Anthony’s mother Ashley Mayse was indignant that a Christmas tradition caused her son to become so upset that he cried.
“That really disrespected me, and I felt awful. I went out and started crying, because I just felt so bad,” the boy told CNN affiliate WLOS. He added, “What size and shape you are, it doesn’t matter.”
Mayse said he tore up the photo he had taken with Santa and cried until he went to bed that night because of the remarks.
His mother asked the city to fire Santa, calling his behavior “very rude. I’ve never seen anything like it,” CNN reported. “It totally destroyed him.”
City manager John Condrey told CNN Santa regretted his remark and has since apologized to both Ashley and Anthony Mayse.
“On Tuesday,” Condrey continued, “that individual who portrayed Santa Claus and was scheduled for the next two Fridays and Saturdays has informed the Town he would no longer provide his service as Santa to the Town.”
However, the apology did little to make Anthony feel better.
“When he went to apologize to me, he didn’t even mean it,” he told WLOS.
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