Accuser of Kevin Clash, Voice of 'Sesame Street's' Elmo, Recants Claim of Under-Age Relationship

When news broke yesterday that Kevin Clash, voice of Sesame Street's Elmo and star of the documentary Being Elmo, had been accused of having a sexual relationship with an under-aged boy, I think the Internet's collective heart broke. Many people have come to see Clash as a role model and a hero. The guy gave the world Elmo, one of the most loved Sesame Street characters. He donates his time to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We didn't want to believe that he could be a bad guy.

It turns out that Clash isn't a bad guy. He just made some dumb decisions. On Tuesday evening, Clash's accuser recanted his claims, saying in a statement that "he wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship. ... He will have no further comment on the matter.” Clash and Sesame Workshop both followed with statements:

Mr. Clash said through a spokeswoman: “I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further.” 

“We are pleased that this matter has been brought to a close, and we are happy that Kevin can move on from this unfortunate episode,” said Sesame Workshop, the organization that produces “Sesame Street.”

It sounds like, despite Clash and Sesame Workshop finding no validity to the claims of wrongdoing, TMZ went ahead with the story anyways, forcing Clash to deal with the story yesterday. Jerks.

Whether or not Clash returns to Sesame Street appears to be up in the air. While Clash is now clear of the under-age accusations, Sesame Workshop did say in yesterday's statement that "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." The New York Times piece on Tuesday goes on to say that "Mr. Clash had been helping to identify other puppeteers who could play Elmo for some time, and they will fill in for him while he is away from work, a Sesame Workshop executive said on Monday."

Here's hoping Clash can overcome this ordeal. He's done to much good to see this issue bring him down.