Sesame Workshop said the X account for its beloved fuzzy, red monster Elmo was compromised by an “unknown hacker” who made antisemitic and racist posts to its official account on Sunday.
The posts, which a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop described as “disgusting messages,” have since been removed from the account, which has over 650,000 followers. Screenshots of the posts, about six in total, have continued to recirculate across social media.
The Elmo account, which in the past has gone viral for its family-friendly upbeat messaging and humorous posts, called for violence against Jews and described President Donald Trump as a “puppet” of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The hacker also alleged Trump “is in the Epstein files,” referencing case files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while in custody.
A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop said Sunday that they “are working to restore full control of the account.” A spokesperson for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The Elmo hack follows criticism toward X after its AI chatbot Grok wrote antisemitic posts, including one that praised Hitler. In a statement posted on Grok’s X account last week, the company apologized “for the horrific behavior that many experienced.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a non-governmental organization that fights antisemitism, called the hack “appalling.”
“It’s appalling that his official X account, known for spreading kindness, was hacked yesterday solely to spread violent antisemitism,” the group wrote in a statement on Monday. “Antisemitism on social media fosters the normalization of anti-Jewish hate online and offline, and contributes to an increasingly threatening environment for Jewish people everywhere.”
The posts also come amid amid fallout over the “Epstein files” from Trump’s MAGA base, who have called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired after she released a two-page memo saying that the department’s review turned up no “client list” of powerful men who allegedly participated in Epstein’s schemes, and there was no “credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals.”
Elmo’s account has not made a post since the hacking.
The character’s other social media accounts do not appear to have been affected.
Cristian Santana and Mirna Alsharif contributed.
