A teenager in Washington state says her trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop turned into a woke meltdown when a store manager flat-out refused to print the name “Charlie Kirk” on her bear’s birth certificate.
Yes, you read that right. A teddy bear birth certificate became the battleground for ideological censorship.
Evi McCormick, a 16-year-old from Southwest Washington, went to the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila with some friends expecting nothing more than a fun day of customizing a bear—a wholesome activity that’s been a staple of American mall culture for years. Inspired by a popular TikTok trend, she chose to name her bear after conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, who was tragically assassinated last month.
But what should have been a sweet, symbolic tribute turned sour fast.
“I was just mesmerized and captivated that he could speak with such elegance,” McCormick said of Kirk. “He was a role model.”
Apparently, that admiration was just too much for one Build-A-Bear manager to handle. McCormick claims that after she designed her bear and reached the final step—printing the name on its birth certificate—she was met with flat-out refusal.
“She just didn’t agree with it. She didn’t support it and she told me, ‘We’re not doing this,’ folded it up in a force and threw it away,” McCormick said. So much for inclusion and diversity.
Understandably rattled, McCormick handed her payment card to her friend, Kailie Lang, and walked away. “It definitely made us all very uncomfortable,” Lang added.
When local news station KING 5 followed up, the store’s manager declined to comment and kicked the issue up to corporate. A Build-A-Bear customer service representative confirmed that the matter was “being handled internally by the appropriate department”—which is corporate speak for “we hope this goes away quietly.”
It shouldn’t.
McCormick’s mother, Amber, wasn’t about to let it slide. After a 45-minute call to corporate, the company initially offered a $20 gift card as a sort of “oops, our bad” gesture. But a few days later—perhaps realizing how bad this looked—Build-A-Bear called back, apologized, and promised to retrain staff both locally and company-wide to “keep politics out of the workplace.”
Funny how the politics only seem to need “keeping out” when they’re conservative.
According to Amber McCormick, the company admitted the incident should not have happened and said their goal moving forward is to prevent similar situations from occurring. A noble gesture, sure—but where was that mindset when their employee took it upon herself to decide which names are acceptable based on her personal politics?
For the record, Build-A-Bear’s posted policy in-store does say customers should avoid using “indecent or distasteful names” on the bears. Since when is “Charlie Kirk” either of those?
This wasn’t about profanity or something objectively offensive. This was about one employee’s disdain for a conservative icon. Period. The irony? McCormick wasn’t trying to make a political statement. “It wasn’t political until she made it that way,” the teen said.
And that’s the crux of it. A teenager tried to honor someone she admired, and instead of support—or even polite neutrality—she was shut down and humiliated for her beliefs. All in a store that markets itself as a safe, inclusive space for kids.
Here’s the deal: Respect is a two-way street. The left constantly demands tolerance and empathy, but when a young conservative quietly pays tribute to someone she looks up to, suddenly it’s open season.
Let’s be clear—if a teen wanted to name her bear after AOC, Bernie Sanders, or even Karl Marx, it’s hard to imagine any pushback. In fact, there’d probably be a rainbow sticker and a free bonus heart tossed in.
But a bear named Charlie Kirk? Apparently, that’s just too dangerous.
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