A musical act mocking Bruce Jenner in the annual New Year’s Day Mummers Parade in Philadelphia is drawing the ire of the city’s mayor, LGBT groups, and others.
The skit was put on by a group called Finnegan New Year’s Brigade Comic Club, according to The Daily Mail. The politically incorrect group was led during this year’s event by a man dressed as Bruce Jenner in all of his 1976 Olympic glory.
Standing in front of his iconic Wheaties box, lookalike Bruce Jenner flexed his muscles, celebrated a gold medal and even pretended to throw a discus, as children surrounded him with U.S.A. signs.
The flamboyant Jenner lookalike was then carted off in a wheel chair as Diana Ross’s 1980 hit “I’m Coming Out” played loudly.
https://twitter.com/PeopleStarsNewz/status/683285361292886016
Then a man wearing a “R.I.P. Bill Cosby” shirt introduced a sign showing a Fruit Loops box with a photo of post-gender transition Jenner on it. Bruce then reemerged dressed as Caitlyn to the tune of Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady.”
Others dance around him carrying signs showing the 1976 Bruce Jenner Wheaties box side-by-side with the 2015 Caitlyn Jenner Fruit Loops box mock-up. Watch video of the complete sketch above.
Children and adults were also seen at the parade sporting brown face. Some of them were wearing sombreros and ponchos, while others reportedly wore taco costumes.
Incoming Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney described the act as “hurtful” on Twitter, writing “Our Trans citizens do not deserve this type of satire/insult.”
Nellie Fitzpatrick, the city’s director of LGBT Affairs, told NBC Philadephia the skit was “unacceptable.”
“There’s no place for it in Philadelphia,” Fitzpatrick said.
After posting an image of the group’s members holding a sign that read “Mummers Lives Matter,” The Finnegan Twitter account posted, “OMG STOP EVERYONE! Happy New Year 2016!!”
— Finnegan NYB (@FinneganNYB) January 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/FinneganNYB/status/683124510908919808
https://twitter.com/FinneganNYB/status/683143986203242496
Later, the man seen wearing the Cosby shirt was captured on video shouting, “F—k the gays!”
@FinneganNYB @visitphilly @NBCPhiladelphia @phillydotcom #MummersParade hate on display. WARNING EXPLICIT LANGUAGE pic.twitter.com/voWDbrcHyO
— Nick Kurczewski (@NKcars) January 1, 2016
The video was shot by New York Daily News editor Nick Kurczewski.
A Finnegan spokesperson apologized for the man’s behavior in an email to Philly.com.
“We are extremely upset and embarrassed by the video that has surfaced of the guy first not in costume with that t-shirt, and also saying ‘F– the gays,” a spokesperson said. “That’s not who we are or ever were.”
The man has reportedly been banned from the group’s future events.
The Philadelphia Mummers Parade is known for featuring unique costumes, music, and pageantry. The parade is one of the longest running New Year’s traditions in the country.
This year’s event was reportedly organized after 2015’s parade was criticized for being nearly all-white and all-male.
Twitter users shared their thoughts on Friday’s politically incorrect display of diversity:
https://twitter.com/taytay2929/status/683029974308253696
Wow. Finnegan Mummers could not have been more transphobic. Disappointed that this theme was approved. #MummersParade #mummers2016 #myphl
— Nora Cothren (@NoLowCo) January 1, 2016
#MummersParade keeping it classy with 'brown face', open containers, and puke puddles. pic.twitter.com/eZk5S9d6j9
— Dustin Slaughter (@DustinSlaughter) January 1, 2016
Racist White People March in Brownface at New Years Parade and Mock Black Lives Matter https://t.co/pjdWmzGdRC
— here for dafonte (@SoulFya) January 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/marystorholm/status/683120496242745344
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