Kang Hsuan Educational Publishing Group yesterday became the 10th advertiser to sever ties with beleaguered Internet celebrity Sidney after the content creator seemingly mocked children with special needs in a livestream.
Sidney, a pregnant woman with five children, runs multiple social media channels under the name “The Lins’ Kids” (林叨囝仔), which revolve around her family life.
The content creator asked her son during a livestream if anyone from his class has special needs.
Photo: screen grab from The Lins’ Kids Facebook page
The child said: “No, we do not have problem children in our class.”
The video then showed Sidney laughing at the response.
“Kang Hsuan Educational Publishing Group is deeply committed to the rights and welfare of school children. We believe every student deserves respect and care and to be distanced from mean-spirited, malicious or discriminatory speech,” it said in a Facebook post.
“We pledge to have no cooperative ties with any person associated with inappropriate speech or behavior in the interest of fostering a stable and friendly environment for children to grow up in good mental and physical health,” it said.
A Facebook commentator asked: “The decision to work with [Sindey] after she caused so many controversies makes one wonder if fame was the only thing your company cared about, even if her fame came from negative publicity?”
Sidney in a Facebook post on Thursday said she is sorry that her phrasing offended some people and apologized to parents of children with special needs, adding that she does not discriminate against children with disabilities.
Her laughter and her child’s comments had been inappropriate, she added.
“I apologize for the inappropriate words and facetious tone I used when talking to my child during the stream, and the harm they caused to special-needs children, their parents and teachers,” Sidney said in another Facebook post hours after the publishing group pulled its advertisements.
“I am deeply sorry and apologize again, hoping you all will forgive my ignorance and arrogance. Sorry,” she said.
Many critics of the content creator were unsatisfied by her apology.
“Spontaneous expression is the most real and direct expression of a person’s opinion,” one Facebook user said in the comments. “Empathy does not come scripted.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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