An episode of the Disney Channel show “Jessie” has been removed from regularly scheduled programming after a petition claims it to be insensitive towards children with food allergies.
An episode of the Disney Channel kids’ show “Jessie,” which was recently released early on Video-on-Demand, showed a young character named Stuart being teased for being on a gluten-free diet and having other food allergies. Upset by the episode, titled “Quitting Cold Koala,” mother-of-two Amy Raslevich, whose children have celiac disease, started a petition on Change.org, calling for the episode to be cancelled.
The Disney Channel took notice of the petition and announced on May 20 they would not release the episode for regular programming. The company also apologized for any upset the episode caused families living with celiac disease, other gluten-related disorders or food allergies.
Debates are still heated as people take to the internet to voice their opinions on whether the episode went too far or not. Some viewed the episode as humorous while others say it is insensitive and encourages bullying.
The full recap of the incident is available from the Huffington Post.
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