Sesame Street's Elmo has “condemned” a recent X account hack in which a string of violent and antisemitic comments were made.
The puppet's account, which is run by Sesame Workshop. the production company behind Sesame Street was allegedly hacked on Sunday evening. His 675,000 followers were met with a series of tweets including “kill all Jews”, "Jews control the world and need to be exterminated" and "Elmo says all Jews should die".
The hacker also called out US President Donald Trump, saying he is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's puppet. This was in reference to right-wing conspiracy theorists that claim Jews are covering up the fact that there really was a Jefferey Epstein file listing clients that used his sex-trafficking services. The conspiracy theorists say that Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the Jews in question and he is protecting Donald Trump, who they claim was on the 'list' in order to hold power over him.
Sesame Workshop gave a statement after the hack, saying “Elmo’s X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts.
“We are working to restore full control of the account.”
Now, Elmo, still speaking in his usual third-person tone, has posted: "On Sunday, Elmo’s X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place.
"We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured.
"These posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop or Sesame Street, and no one at the organization was involved."
Four hours before this tweet directly addressing the hack, he tweeted this: "Thank you for being kind to Elmo and all the people in your neighbourhood. Elmo loves you."
This wasn't the first time Elmo has been used as a medium for hate. Over a decade ago, a man in Elmo suit went on antisemitic tirade in New York City’s Central Park and in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf district.
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