Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash Resigns From Sesame Street

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Kevin Clash, the famed voice and puppeteer behind beloved Sesame Street character Elmo, has officially resigned in the aftermath of allegations that he had an underage sexual relationship.

The allegations, made last Monday, contended that Clash had sex with a minor years ago. The 24-year-old male accuser, who remained anonymous, recanted his claims shortly after making them. The scandal prompted Clash to come out as a gay man, saying, 'I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter.'

Tuesday morning, Sesame Workshop released a statement about Clash's resignation:

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.

Clash was the voice and hand behind Elmo for several decades. Production will reportedly go relatively unaffected by his absence, as he had previously helped identify a replacement puppeteer. during his leave of absence during the scandal.

UPDATE: Clash says in statement: 'I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately.'

[h/t New York Times]

• Sad for Sesame Street.

  Poor Elmo'

  'He's probably been left bereft, motionless and probably left empty inside!

• ooooooooooooooooo

  I get it.

  : )

• 'Tried to keep it polite with no mention of fists!

• This guy sucks man. He was totally taking advantage of these guys in an uneven relationship where he had the power. He was banging some kid who is the gayest gay that gay can make and paid him off selfishly to safe his career. Even
  in email he took him as a sex slave saying all he can talk about
  is sex with him. truly a monster.

  Oh i didnt mean to unleash the hounds of mirth

• This is rather unfortunate. Mostly that being gay is something people still find shocking or distracting or wrong. And screw that anonymous guy for lying about all this. What was the point? 5 minutes of fame?

• Being gay is simply a non-issue in the world today, and since I'm hearing the alleged victim was paid to 'recant', PBS's has to be completely transparent. PBS makes millions in royalties from Elmo, but in a child sex abuse allegation, you have to be honest.

• wow, you really clueless? If there's nothing to the allegation, you fight it. When there's 'something', you don't. No one cares that's he's gay, dating teenagers is the problem.

• Dildo O'Reilly paid millions for Andrea Mackris' silence (not recantation). FOX has to be completely transparent, as FOX maks millions from Dildo, but in a workplace sexual harassment allegation, you have to be honest.

• Jerry Sandusky is still fighting the allegations. Is there nothing to them?