Fat-Shaming Santa Leaves Nine-Year-Old Boy Devastated

A fat-shaming Santa has left a nine-year-old boy devastated, who he was told to lay off on hamburgers and fries during a photo event in North Carolina in the US.

Anthony Mayse was with his mum and brother when they visited Santa during a photo event on Saturday at the town’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Forest City, North Carolina. He asked Santa for an iPod Touch and a drone for Christmas but he received a shocking reply.

“And when I got done, he said lay off the hamburgers and french fries, and that really just disrespected me and I felt awful. And I went out and I started crying because I just felt so bad,” Anthony told WLOS.

Anthony’s mum, Ashley claims the man hired as Santa didn’t even seem too jolly about the gig. “He acted like he didn’t want to be there to do the job. I’ve never seen anything like it … I was just mind-blown. I wished a million times that we never went,” Ashley said.

She now hopes that the mean Santa gets sacked.

“I’m hoping he’s fired because I don’t want any kid feeling like he [Anthony] did Saturday,” she said.

The Daily Mail reported that the said man, who has not been identified and who was hired as Santa, has resigned from the position. He has portyrayed Santa for at least 10 years. In exchange for $1,000 each holiday season, he acts as Santa at the town’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Christmas parade, and on the several weekends at the town’s Santa house.

He was scheduled to play Santa the next two weekends. The town has not yet found a replacement.

The town manager says Santa apologised to both the Mayse family and his supervisor. However, Anthony said the apology was not genuine. “When he went to apologize to me he didn’t even mean it,” Anthony told WGNTV adding that he tore up his picture that was taken with Santa after the incident.

“It affected me so bad that I was crying until I went to bed that night…And I want to say to him, ‘You don’t want to disrespect a nine-year-old. Even though what shape and size you are, it doesn’t matter’,” Anthony said.

Sources: Aww.com.au, Dailymail.co.uk and 9news.com.au