The news finally settles down to relative normalcy after the presidential elections. The politically charged Facebook status’s become few and far between. Class schedules, “inspirational” quotes, and other narcissistic updates flood social media networks. A fairly tiring weekend of raucous and slightly dangerous activities is behind me. A Monday morning of Genetics and Organic Chemistry scrambled my brain as quickly as a Magic Bullet makes “simple and no-mess salsa!“ My baggy and blood-shot eyes hazily scan the Internets. An article heading shines among the dull, nebulous daily topics: a certain puppeteer is out of a job.
After possible sexual allegations, 52-year old Kevin Clash, the voice and operator of Elmo, has been put on leave from the popular children’s show Sesame Street. In June, a 23-year old man told the Sesame Workshop of a relationship between himself and Clash that had begun seven years prior. Clash denied the accusations which were originally brought up by TMZ.com. The incident occurred in 2005 between the then 17-year old man and 45-year old Clash. The legal age of consent in New York, where Sesame Street films, happens to be 17-years old. From a legal standpoint, this very strange union passes inspection. Clash admits to a consensual relationship but only when the accuser was of legal age. Officials from the Sesame Workshop had this to say in regards to the incident, ”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.” Poor judgment? That is quite the understatement. Responding to the entire situation, Clash told 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.” For those of you worried about the existence of Elmo, fret no more. The Sesame Workshop stated that the essence of Elmo is bigger than one person. The furry, red puppet will continue educating young minds in pre-school. Be sure to tune in to next week’s episode where Elmo talks about man-boy relations.
Does Mitt Romney know something the rest of the Sesame Street-loving public does not? If Elmo landed in hot water, this brings me to question the innocence of the rest of the puppet/puppeteer cast. Why is Oscar so grouchy? What is going on with Bert and Ernie? Don’t even get me started on the Cookie Monster.