It is being reported this morning that Kevin Clash, the voice of “Sesame Street’s” Elmo, is taking a leave of absence due to allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy.
Elmo on Sesame Street a pedophile? http://t.co/qf2OiARd Your tax money at work Always bewar of people who work with kids
— Don Surber (@donsurber) November 12, 2012
More from The Daily Mail:
Kevin Clash, 52, has taken a leave of absence from the popular children’s show after the programme’s lawyers were contacted by a 23-year-old man who claims he had a sexual relationship with the puppeteer seven years ago, when he was aged 16.
TMZ, who reported the allegations, said that Mr Clash had admitted he had a relationship with the man, but only after the accuser was an adult and said the accusations were both false and defamatory.
The accuser met with “Sesame Street” lawyers and reportedly felt like he was being silenced. He is now reportedly being represented by Andreozzi and Associates. That law firm represented one Jerry Sandusky’s victims.
Twitter reacts to the disturbing news.
https://twitter.com/NathanWurtzel/status/267986275297030147
The CIA. Lockheed Martin. Waffle House. Elmo. There's GOT to be a connection here.
— Ryan W. Mead (@rwmead) November 12, 2012
BBC under fire, Elmo puppeteer on leave during 'sexual abuse allegations', keys stolen from Tower of London. What IS going on?
— Stephen Sidlo (@StephenSidlo) November 12, 2012
Wha? Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash takes leave from 'Sesame Street,' denies sexual allegations http://t.co/HgIcLM32
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) November 12, 2012
Recommended
U know the world has officially gone to h*ll when Elmo (his puppeteer) is involved in a sexual scandal w/ underage boy. http://t.co/1ydAty5P
— Kathleen McKinley (@KatMcKinley) November 12, 2012
If Elmo is a giant pervert, I won't be that surprised.
— Amelia (@AmeliaHammy) November 12, 2012
I'm seriously disturbed by this Elmo story. Gives a whole new meaning to "Elmo loooooooves hugs!" Yuk.
— Amanda L (@AmandaL_tweets) November 12, 2012
https://twitter.com/DavidJGarth/status/267993375305760771
Uh, yes. Yes it is. If these allegations are true, a 16-year-old child was sexually abused.
Of course, this does remind some of all the Big Bird and Sesame Street nonsense during the presidential campaign.
In the first place, oh my God. In the second–imagine this came out right after first debate! http://t.co/zdmrEpdY
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 12, 2012
Big Bird – where are you? RT @DRUDGE_REPORT: SESAME STREET'S Elmo accused of child sex abuse… http://t.co/jQAJtvrL
— Rob Passarella (@robpas) November 12, 2012
Wish this had broken 2 weeks ago RT @newsbusters: Gay Minor-Sex Scandal on Sesame Street W-Kevin Clash, Voice of Elmo http://t.co/cKfLotkG
— ¡El Sooopèrr! ن c137 (@SooperMexican) November 12, 2012
In the wake of the Elmo sex scandal, I think we need to ask, What did Big Bird know and When did He know it?
— Mickey White (@BiasedGirl) November 12, 2012
Did they know about Elmo before the election?
— Liberty Czarina (@LibertyCzarina) November 12, 2012
Some on the Left grossly think people will be happy about these allegations. Because, Romney. And wing nutty haters or something.
Damn they trying to get Elmo locked up that's crazy… I guess because Romney lost smh but not Elmo though 🙁
— NaturalBeauty (@iHeart_emoji) November 12, 2012
https://twitter.com/steveburksmusic/status/267993126730342401
Oh, the PBS-Sesame-Street-haters are gonna be all up on this Elmo / Kevin Clash story. /le sigh
— @JessieNYC (@JessieNYC) November 12, 2012
Yeah, no. No one is pleased by the sexual abuse of a minor. Well, except for vile Roman Polanski defenders, of course.
Sesame Street has issued a statement.
READ: The @SesameWorkshop statement regarding Voice of "Elmo" and allegations of sexual misconduct charges http://t.co/8av1MhtT
— Jummy Olabanji (@JummyNBC) November 12, 2012
From Sesame Street Workshop:
Sesame Workshop’s Statement Regarding Kevin Clash
In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a then 23 year old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with Kevin Clash, a Sesame Workshop puppeteer who performs as Elmo.
We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action. We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated. Although this was a personal relationship unrelated to the workplace, our investigation did reveal that Kevin exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding internet usage and he was disciplined.
Kevin insists that the allegation of underage conduct is false and defamatory and he is taking actions to protect his reputation. We have granted him a leave of absence to do so.Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of Sesame Street to engage, educate and inspire children around the world, as it has for 40 years.
https://twitter.com/_Tekoah/status/267995007535960064
If the allegations are true, horrible indeed. Twitchy will monitor this situation and update with any developments.
Update:
https://twitter.com/AdrianneCurry/status/268038250252353536
And, trending.
Elmo is trending, of course.
— Lisa Graas † Passionist † #Catholic (@CatholicLisa) November 12, 2012
Join the conversation as a VIP Member