Following the emergence of a new lawsuit accusing him yet again of having sex with an underage boy (the second such allegation in 2 weeks), Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, the popular Sesame Street character, has resigned from Sesame Street!
You remember that Kevin Clash was embroiled in a similar case in which another young man, Sheldon Stephens accused Clash of having sex with him when he was 16 years old. As part of a $125, 000 settlement, Sheldon issued a statement recanting his claims, an action he says he regrets taking.
Now comes Cecil Singleton, a man now in his 30s, who came with similar accusation. Cecil, through his lawyer, filed a lawsuit against Clash claiming the two met on a gay phone chat line way back in 1993 when he was 15 years old and Clash was 32. In the suit, Singleton claims ... although the sex occurred nearly 20 years ago, he didn't take action until now because ... he "did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash's sexual acts and conduct until 2012." Singleton is demanding more than $5 million.
This appears to be too much for Clash, because Sesame Workshop issued a statement saying, "Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street"
Sesame Workshop had previously said, "Elmo is bigger than any one person." That was in response to the initial underage sex accusation from Sheldon Stephens. Now, they say he has resigned.
Did Kevin Clash jump, or was he pushed?
Who will be our Elmo now that Clash has gone? Can anyone truly do it as well as Clash?
I say drop Elmo all together, he ruined the Street anyway
ReplyDeleteElmo's a nice, cuddly, little bear. He didn't do anything wrong. The Street's gonna continue with Elmo bringing out another voice.
Delete)o: to clash and the explorer as well...
ReplyDelete