Twisted Build-A-Bear employee refuses teen’s wish to name teddy after Charlie Kirk
A woke Build-A-Bear Workshop employee in Washington state allegedly refused a teen customer’s wish to name her new teddy after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
What started as a lighthearted trip with friends to the Southcenter Mall outside Seattle soon soured for 16-year-old Evi McCormick when the store manager shot down her request to put Kirk’s name on her newly-created stuffed animal’s birth certificate, the teen told King 5 News.
“She just didn’t agree with it. She didn’t support it and she told me, ‘We’re not doing this,’” McCormick told the outlet.
The toy tyrant then cruelly crumpled up the birth certificate, which customers are given with every Build-A-Bear purchase, and threw it away in front of the flabbergasted teen.
McCormick was so upset she handed her debit card to a friend to pay for the bear – usually priced between $16 and $48 – and walked away from the register.
The encounter “definitely made us all very uncomfortable,” her friend, Kailie Lang, told the outlet.
Here's the latest on the Charlie Kirk shooting in Utah
- Police identified Tyler Robinson, 22, as the alleged assassin who fatally shot Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
- Robinson was charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.
- Law enforcement confirmed that Robinson was living with a transgender roommate, and communications between the two helped the feds catch the alleged assassin.
- attending an event on his American Comeback Tour when he was struck in the neck by a single shot.
- President Trump was among many who have called for the assassin to receive the death penalty.
- Kirk’s body was brought to Arizona from Utah on Air Force Two, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance, and taken to Phoenix’s Hansen Mortuary Chapel.
- Kirk’s funeral, which Trump has promised to attend, is scheduled for Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals.
- Kirk, a rising MAGA star, is survived by his wife and two young children.
Build-A-Bear’s protection policy asks customers to refrain from giving “indecent or distasteful names for furry friends.”
But McCormick simply wanted to honor Kirk, 31, who was assassinated Sept. 10 as he spoke with an audience at Utah Valley University during the kind of spirited debate that made him famous.
“I was just mesmerized and captivated that he could speak with such elegance,” McCormick explained, adding that the Turning Point USA founder “was a role model.”
“It wasn’t political until she made it that way,” the teen said of the callous employee.
The Sept. 26 incident infuriated the teen’s mother, Amber McCormick, who called the toy company’s corporate office demanding answers.
A company official initially offered a $20 gift card to make up for the poor customer experience, the elder McCormick said, but called back a few days later to apologize and inform her that they would re-train their Seattle-area workforce to keep politics away from teddy bears.
“She said that their goal is to try to prevent this sort of situation from happening to anybody else,” the mom said.
The McCormicks could not be reached for comment.
An email to Build-A-Bear Workshop’s corporate office went unanswered.