Man behind Elmo resigns from 'Sesame Street'
Kevin Clash resigns as the fuzzy red monster as a second person sues.
Man behind Elmo resigns from 'Sesame Street'
Molly Eichel, Daily News Staff Writer
Kevin Clash, the man behind Elmo, is resigning from "Sesame Street."
Clash was recently accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with Sheldon Stephens, who claimed the relationship started when he was 16. The 23-year-old Stephens, who calls Harrisburg home, recently recanted his accusation after signing a $125,000 settlement. But as we reported in Tattle today, Stephens wants to recant his recantation and is looking for new lawyers to undo the settlement.
According to the Associated Press, a lawsuit by a second accuser was filed Tuesday. TMZ reportedly found the second accuser, who says Clash trolled gay sex phone lines looking for sex with underage boys. The accuser, now in his 20s, says he started a relationship with the then 32-year-old Clash when he was 15.
The Sesame Workshop, the producers behind "Sesame Street," released this statement:
Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential. Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street.
Kevin Clash has been a puppeteer at "Sesame Street" since 1984 and was recently profiled in the documentary "Being Elmo." Elmo will not go out with Clash though. Clash took a leave of absence when Stephens' accusations were made public and began identifying other puppeteers who could take on the Elmo mantel.
I knew Elmo was gay. Now Bert and Ernie have to come out their closets. They are lovers.— MrBigDizzle- Well, at least we can take solace in knowing Rock Hudson & Liberace were heteros.— teardownthisfishwrap
- Sesame Street has been trying to bury this story for years.It has come out at last.— GREEKPICNIC
What a dirtbag. I don't care who you stick as long as the other party is an consenting adult. My grandson loved Elmo. What do parents tell their kids now?— The Monk
I bet Kevin Clash and Elmo went to Penn State.- I DEMAND that the Elmo statue in front of Penn State Stadium be torn down!— RandlBackScrambln
- Duh...— henry hill
- Your tax dollars at work. PBS has been molesting our wallets for a half century now. Good thing the country isn't 16 trillion in debt or anything.
........I'm sorry, what?— teardownthisfishwrap 
Comment removed.- Rosie O: "Elmo" Clash was involved with underage young boys for sex. TWO young boys now say Clash seduced them and I'm sure there are plenty waiting in the wings. Dude is worth about $12,000,000 so that's a LOT of young boys. Gay or straight, the guy is a pig. Deal with it babe. And this has exactly squatta to do with Columbus.— The Monk
- Elmo--like Jerry Sandusky and assorted Catholic priests--is a pedophile who happens to be gay. I think even most LGBT advocates reluctantly accept this.
After all, I am not the least bit offended by people calling Bill Conlin a diddler of young girls.
That said, as the definitive UCLA study this year revealed only 3.5 % of the population being gay--and the majority of those being lesbians--the percentage of pedophiles being gay vs the percentage of pedophiles being straight would be an interesting comparison to say the least, and worthy of exploration.— Lee J Cobb - I am anxiously awaiting comment from Bert and Ernie before forming my opinion. Thank you.— Will T.
- If the media ever gets around to giving the BBC the Catholic Church treatment on it's pervert scandals, we can look forward to them looking the other way at PBS. We should have known when Elmo used to appear on the Frugal Gourmet.— tr88
- Why DO they always write songs about Rainbows? I thought the song was a bit freakish when I first heard it. Now listening to it again, gives it a whole new meaning. I guess Big Bird's character does too.— Joe Nickels
