“It was extremely tasteless”
“The way they handled it was so wrong,” said one viewer in response to the dance routine about the late 6-year-old beauty pageant star
Disney; Mark Fix/ZUMApress.com
Ashlan Scheide and JonBenét Ramsey.
Dance Moms: A New Era has come under fire for an episode that featured a dance number inspired by a famous murder.
In episode 8 of the Hulu series, titled “Glo Don’t Give with Both Hands,” dance teacher Gloria Hampton teaches 11-year-old student Ashlan Scheide a dance routine based on the tragic abuse and murder of the late 6-year-old beauty pageant star JonBenét Ramsey.
Scheide performed the dance number during a competition in a costume, with her blonde hair styled to resemble that of Ramsey, who died on Christmas Day 1996.
At one point during the dance performance, the young dancer even reenacted Ramsey’s strangulation.
A representative for Hulu did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Mary Beth Koeth/A+E Networks
Scheide on “Dance Moms: A New Era”
Related: Who killed child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey in her Colorado home 27 years ago today?
After the episode aired, viewers reacted to the controversial moment online. “It was extremely disturbing. I feel like with cases like Jonbenet… where the cases are incredibly public… people start to blur the lines and forget that these are real children,” one user wrote on Reddit.
“I don’t think a dance about JonBenét could ever be truly tasteful… it just highlights the gruesome murder of a child. They easily could have done a beauty pageant routine without exploiting her murder,” they added.
“I think it was completely tasteless and also somehow had literally nothing to do with the case,” another viewer shared the episode on Reddit.
“This almost made me stop watching the show… the way they handled this was so wrong and asking a little kid to research a case involving a child’s SA is absolutely grotesque,” wrote a third.
Other viewers described the dance performance in the show as “disrespectful” and “sick”.
“Did anyone find the JonBenét Ramsey dance insensitive and disrespectful?” wrote another viewer. “…and all the moms laughed…my jaw literally dropped.”
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Heather Sten/A+E Networks
Divorce with her mother Lisa
Related: Dance Moms: A New Era Coach Glo says she received a “congratulatory text” from Abby Lee Miller but declined a cameo appearance
Ramsey was at the center of one of the country’s most high-profile cases after she was found murdered in the basement of her family’s Colorado home nearly three decades ago, sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled with a garrote.
The case remains unsolved to this day, but several theories about her death suggest that Ramsey’s parents and a mysterious intruder are possible murder suspects.
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