Matthew Wilson
Build-A-Bear is garnering controversy after a store refused to allow a customer to name a bear after Charlie Kirk. An employee refused to print the name for a teenage girl at a Washington location.
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16-year-old Evi McCormick explained that she visited a Build-A-Bear workshop in Seatttle. The teen said Kirk had been a hero to her. She wanted to honor the slain political activist by naming a stuffed animal in his honor as a way to mourn him.
Kirk died on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. 22-year-old Tyler Robinson allegedly assassinated Kirk while he was mid-debate on the college campus.
According to McCormick, she filled out the stuffed animal certificate with “Charlie Kirk.” She told local NBC affiliate, KING5 that a Build-A-Bear told her, “We’re not doing this.”
- McCormick further said, “She just didn’t agree with it. She didn’t support it.”
- According to the teen, the employee ripped up the certificate and threw it away.
- McCormick added, “It wasn’t political until she made it that way.”
Build-A-Bear Controversy
Meanwhile, McCormick’s friend Kailie Lang said the Build-A-Bear worker made the group uncomfortable.
Following the encounter, McCormick took her case to the public forums. She posted about her experience on social media, saying that it left her crying and calling her Dad. She also claims the employee refused to give them a blank certificate so she could fill it in later.
- “Safe to say, I will not be returning, and my heart genuinely hurts,” she wrote.
While she didn’t get the certificate, she did get a bear dressed in a suit and red tie that was similar to the attire that Kirk often wore. McCormick said that she wanted to honor her political idol and felt this was a way to do so.
“Charlie Kirk is an idol to me, and to feel the hate, even onto his supporters, is so unfortunate,” she said.
According to the family, Build-A-Bear’s corporate office offered a $20 gift card and an apology.
“She said that their goal is to try to prevent this sort of situation from happening to anybody else,” McCormick’s mother Amber added.
