Information on this has just started rolling in, but according to Brian Stelter of the New York Times, the man who accused Sesame Street’s Kevin Clash of engaging in a sexual relationship with him before he turned 18 has recanted.
The man who accused Kevin Clash (Elmo) of underage sexual conduct has RECANTED. His lawyer now says it was “adult consensual relationship.”
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 13, 2012
The accuser has remained anonymous. The recantation came in a statement via a law firm. The statement did not include an apology to Clash.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 13, 2012
Kevin Clash statement: “I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further.”
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 13, 2012
I don’t know exactly what to make of this just yet, but I do know that I didn’t like living in a world where Elmo was accused of sex crimes. Let’s chalk this one up as a positive, to the extent anything involving accusations of improper sexual behavior and someone’s reputation being dragged through the mud can end up being “positive.”
UPDATE: The NYT now has the full write-up, which points out that TMZ was the first outlet to run the story, and closes with this nice little shot to the ribs of the gossip site’s top banana:
Harvey Levin, the editor of TMZ, did not respond to a request for comment about its decision to run with the unproven allegations of underage sex.
Yup. That’s a burn.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/51/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/gammasquadsesamestreet-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/04/cookiemonster-150x150.gif)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/04/Screen-shot-2013-04-16-at-3.08.16-PM-150x150.png)
![[image]](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/02/toys-starwars-darthvader-choking-hazard-indeed-150x150.png)
So I guess we’re assuming this guy wanted money, realized he had no chance of getting it, and backed off?
Very possible. Unfortunately, that still won’t sit well with a lot of the public and I think the damage has already been done.
What you are saying is that Mitt Romney made up this to destroy Sesame Street.
If the next story that pops up is the Count running a drug empire, we’ll know Mitt was right all along
“1, 2, 3 thousand dollars short ah ah ah!” *gunshot* “1 blown off toe ah ah ah!”
The Republicans are behind this. Time for a Warming Glow exposé.
If taped phone calls leak of Elmo intimidating him on the phone, I will officially quit the internet, move to Montana and live the plot of Revolutions, fo rilz.
If that happens, we can all quit the internet because nothing will ever be that funny ever again.
This sucks for so many reasons. @izgood – I’d love to laugh, but right now I think humanity is doomed.
I doubt anyone intimidated the accuser…..but the age difference is significant…
So let me ask you this: between the Elmo guy, the Big Bird guy, Bert & Ernie, and Ken Burns, is all of PBS just a big gay mafia? It’s cool if that’s the case, but I had a great idea for a kids’ show and I need to know if I’d be wasting my time taking it there instead of the ultra-hetero Noggin.
Well that’s good. The damage has still been done though. If he isn’t let go of now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened next time contract negotiations happen.
That would be so disappointing and I wonder if he could sue for wrongful termination if it happened.
This was rather fast and a little weird.
I’m glad Elmo isn’t a child molester
look, i know in the eyes of the law if it’s technically a minor than it’s not “consensual”. but was anyone in their right mind really assuming that the 16 year old wasn’t capable of consent? i mean, i guess i just figured all along the little shithead knew what he was doing and is just a moneygrubbing fuck.
Man, fuck TMZ.
If I were Clash, I’d sue for defamation. It’s unlikely he’ll be coming back now that the world knows he’s into dudes. There’s no way the right-wing will shutup about him working with kids even though he hasn’t done anything wrong. I hope the showrunners don’t cave. I realize they can get someone else to play Elmo or scrap him altogether, but they’d be losing a really talented puppeteer.
1) Was it a secret he is gay?
2) Why the fuck would PBS kowtow to the people trying to kill their funding by getting rid of one of their most recognizable figures?
I think it’s great how you can accuse somebody of a heinous act, defaming that persons character in the process, then turn around and be all “oops, my bad. I forgot I really was a consenting adult” and still remain anonymous. Fuck our legal system.
Oh, good, turns it was just a normal, healthy sexual relationship between a 40-something year old man who makes his living with children’s puppets and an 18 year old.
Would you be OK with it if it were a 45 year old stock broker having a relationship with an 18 year old girl?