Kevin Clash AKA Elmo Puppeteered a 16 YO Boy’s Ass
Elmo has been part of my child’s life since he was old enough to watch TV. We have a half-dozen of Elmo videos and even bought the dolls. My kid’s first birthday party was an Elmo theme. I loved Kevin Clash’s Being Elmo documentary on NetFlix. I had zero notion that he was a closet male pedophile- sure he was quirky, like many artists are, but he fought through poverty in Baltimore to become the puppeteering mastermind he is today, and in charge of the Sesame Street empire as chief puppeteer. He is also married with a beautiful family.
But something happened in his childhood as he reached for fame that turned his life upside down- he was likely molested by a pedophile in the business in exchange for a bigger break. And while he overcame that and went on to a success and a normal family, he apparently nurtured something dark within himself and eventually molested a child of his own who was trying to break into the biz. Trauma has a way of resurfacing, often as dark fantasies, and Kevin Clash apparently, if the reports are to be believed, gave into it. A 16 year old kid trying to break into the business was molested by Clash. Now Clash is on a leave of absence from Sesame Street. I hope he is getting the counseling he needs to fix himself, but the damage must be excruciating to his family, and of course to his young victim.
From DailyMail here:
The man who voices the puppet of Elmo on Sesame Street has taken leave amid allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy.
Kevin Clash, 52, has taken a leave of absence from the popular children’s show after the program’s lawyers were contacted by a 23-year-old man who claims he had a sexual relationship with the puppeteer seven years ago, when he was aged 16.
TMZ, who reported the allegations, said that Mr Clash had admitted he had a relationship with the man, but only after the accuser was an adult and said the accusations were both false and defamatory.
‘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,’ said Mr Clash who joined Sesame Street in the mid-80s. The website reported that after the accuser’s initial meeting with Sesame Street lawyers, he felt that that he was being silenced so he hired a lawyer.
He is now being represented by Andreozzi and Associates – the firm that worked with one of the victims in the Jerry Sandusky child rape case.
In August, the accuser’s lawyers wrote a letter to Sesame Street accusing the programme of trying to ‘discredit the victim in order to protect its employee and the image of one of its most valuable characters,’ The letter also claimed the show’s attitude ‘places a greater value on a puppet than the well being of a young man.’
But Sesame Workshop officials told TMZ they found the the allegation of underage sex was unsubstantiated after a thorough investigation. They claim rather than trying to hush up the accuser, they asked for evidence of his allegations, which was not received.
The website reported they had seen an email supposedly sent to the accuser by Mr Clash, acknowledging they had the affair when he was 16, but officials believe it is fake as they say the accuser never mentioned such an email existed.
Sesame Street disciplined Mr Clash for inappropriate use of company email after they found emails between him and the accuser, but they did not indicate an illegal sexual relationship, according to TMZ.
Emails can be substantiated pretty well, and the victim was under no obligation to share that evidence with Sesame Street lawyers. Clash took a voluntary leave of absence. I suspect he is getting some much-needed sex addiction counseling, but that is little comfort to his family, nor to his victim. Child entertainment is rife with child abuse, and entertainment in general is rife with pedophilia as Corey Feldman can attest to. With so many of my heroes recently dashed- Petraeus, Romney, Armstrong- it is my sincere wish that these charges weren’t true, but I think I know better.
Speaking of Romney, when the election turned out to be about Big Bird, couldn’t these allegations have surfaced then to shut up the leftist clowns clamoring about shutting down PBS? And now that the biggest show on PBS has turned out to be allowing child abuse to perpetuate, isn’t it time we pull funding for Children’s Television Workshop, Sesame Street and PBS in general?
Addendum to an already long post: There’s tons of Elmo money to be mined in a divorce. If the allegations are true, I hope to never see Elmo giggle again.
UPDATE!! According to TNZ, a 6-figure sum was paid to the victim in exchange for him to recant the allegations that he had underage sex with Clash. He now says it was a consenting adult relationship.
t’s unclear why the accuser suddenly changed his story … but sources close to the situation tell TMZ … the accuser’s attorney had been meeting with Clash’s attorney as recent as an hour ago, discussing a financial settlement and 6-figures were on the table.
