Elmo Muppeteer Kevin Clash resigns from Sesame Street

[dwayne1115]

I like how a lot of us have changed our Avatar to show Elmo and Kevin support.
I know there have been a lot of Elmo hatters out there (even on this forum) but I love how many people have supported Kevin regardless of there love or hate for Elmo.

 

[dwayne1115]

Respectfully, only the second accuser has made his name known publicly. And just as it's fair to say "innocent until proven guilty", it's also fair to not blame the accusers. They may well be victims.

Look, as much as we all admire Kevin Clash's work over the years, none of us really know him and his personal life. One can be perfectly normal at work and professional social situations, they can give to charity and be an upstanding citizen in every other way...and still do something horrible.

We all hope it's not true but NONE of us knows for sure. This is the kind of thing that taints all involved. And it's wise of Sesame Workshop to not have him as an employee right now.

I do agree with you that he may have been able to still work at Sesame with just the one issue, but now that there is two there is no way that Sesame could look past it.

 

[Skeeter 2 B]

First off I am writing this in hopes that it will reach the ears of Kevin Clash himself. I’ve heard that people from the workshop do read these posts so it is my hope that this may be passed on.

I know all too well how hard life can be at times, and how far the love of your friends can go when you are in need. I want let Kevin know as a fan I understand his decision to leave. It breaks my heart that someone as kind as him would have to go through this. I had the honor of meeting him at Dragoncon in 07. I was amazed and shocked at same time. It was years before I would fallow my own dream of puppeteer, and I’ve been kicking myself ever since for not being able to talk to him as a fellow puppeteer. I would love the chance to talk to him again, and share experiences of what it is to be a puppeteer.

Anyway, back to that matter at hand, I understand his need to walk away and handle this privately, and to distance himself from Sesame Street for the sake of the show. I want him to know as a fan I support him, and believe he is innocent. He is still one of my heroes, like Jim, Richard, Jerry, Steve, Frank, Carol, and Jerry. I hope that this matter will be handled soon and I want him to know as a fan I would welcome him back to Sesame Street when this is all over. My strength, support, and prayers go out to him in this time of need, and I hope he can take comfort in knowing that his fans still love him.

 

[Drtooth]

According to a article on NY Daily News, Kevin was on those phone sex lines talking to underage kids.

There are 2 things that get me about that. First off, where is the evidence? Secondly, if this is (perish the thought) true, those "kids" (16 and 17, not exactly 3 year olds) were on phone sex lines too.

It was absolutely the right thing for him to resign. It's possible he may have even been pushed from Sesame Workshop. Post-Penn State, organizations have to be super vigilant in making sure to be seen as far away from these allegations as possible.

Except the Penn State fiasco was over the course of decades, on school grounds, and were reported widely, yet covered up by various heads of the school. And above all, unwanted physical contact/rape. Kevin was not using his stature to rape anyone and hide it. He had questionable behavior on his own time, completely detached from his kid's performer duties. Questionable behavior in private is still private. We just love to punish the dickens out of these people when something unsavory comes to light (exactly what TMZ loves to do). Look at what happened to Fred Willard. Everyone's punishing him like he was a drunken birthday clown exposing himself. He's fired from adult shows.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

It's truly the end of an era. I'm still trying to comprehend that we will never hear Kevin Clash's voice as Elmo ever again. Someone on Tough Pigs suggested that maybe down the road, Disney could quietly recruit him to start performing Clifford again for future Muppet productions now that he'll have more free time. But there's no denying Sesame isn't going to be the same without his presence. Next season is going to be really rough with no Kevin and no Jerry.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

There are 2 things that get me about that. First off, where is the evidence? Secondly, if this is (perish the thought) true, those "kids" (16 and 17, not exactly 3 year olds) were on phone sex lines too.

Yeah, I was thinking that. Why are those kids on those phone lines anyway?

Seriously, if this kid would be 18 in three days from when it happened, there would still be a problem.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

It's truly the end of an era. I'm still trying to comprehend that we will never hear Kevin Clash's voice as Elmo ever again.

No! You can't say that!

There's still hope for him! It is still possible that he can come back! I'm hoping that this will be cleared up soon and this story can be buried, just like we were doing after the story last week.

 

[dwayne1115]

the key word that the media is uesing is "Child" and for a show like Sesmae thats the last thing it needs.

 

[D'Snowth]

Kevin was actually doing more with Sesame now than Jim was around the time of his death.

Well, that's because Kevin was devoting pretty much all of this time to SST, whereas Jim always had a million different projects going at the same time, which limited his time with SST.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Well, that's because Kevin was devoting pretty much all of this time to SST, whereas Jim always had a million different projects going at the same time, which limited his time with SST.

Yes, I know that. I'm not saying Jim didn't do anything for Sesame or he didn't want to or whatever, it's just the person who I quoted said "Jim died and Sesame continued" so I was just saying that at the time, Jim wasn't involved in Sesame that much.