Kevin Clash, Elmo’s puppeteer, accused of statutory rape?!

Elmo and Kevin Clash

WHAT THE WHATTING WHAT. No. Just … no, I’m not going to get into this. I’m just going to let the blockquote from the NY Daily News explain this, because this is seriously messed up.

“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,” reps for the show said in a statement.

Clash, 52, who has been Elmo’s Muppeteer since 1984, adamantly maintains the accusation is false, but the show was forced to investigate. Says Clash, according to TMZ, “I had a relationship with [the accuser]. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.”

“We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action,” Sesame Workshop said in the statement. “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.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Clash has taken a leave of absence from the show, but still, what in the hell is going on here? ELMO! Elmo’s is being accused of having weird underage relationships, and just … know what? I’m done here. Let’s just go back to making fun of famewhore Kim Kardashian some more. That oughta cleanse the pop palate a little.

Elmo and Kevin Clash

About JEREMY FEIST 5002 Articles
Jeremy Feist is an (ahem) entertainer from Toronto, Canada. He writes, acts, and performs on stage, and has been a writer for Popbytes for almost three years now. He lives in Toronto with his boyfriend, his incredibly dumb but cute puppy, and his immortal cat.