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The accuser already recanted the story. Won't hear about it here of course because it's not news worthy - destroying careers - that's newsworthy.
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Ugh. From the New York Daily News:
Let's not forget the accuser here either. This is just a horrible story for everyone involved right now, and it bums me out to have to bring it to you guys. I'm sure you all will have a lot to say about this in the comments, but as the substitute teacher here today I'll ask you all to keep things classy as we don't know all the details about what happened here as of yet.
UPDATE: Clash's accuser recants his allegations. Hopefully Kevin Clash can return to Sesame Street and get back to entertaining ASAP.
It's not a sunny day on "Sesame Street," as the show revealed Monday that the puppeteer behind Elmo has been accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage boy.As readers of Michael Davis' Street Gang will be quick to point out, there has been a fair amount of drama behind the scenes of Sesame Street during the show's 43-year run...but nothing even remotely comparable to an alleged sex scandal. As the man responsible for bringing the most popular (and most divisive) Muppet to life, Kevin Clash was the focus of the documentary Being Elmo -- a film that managed to even warm the hearts of the character's most vocal critics. Even though he denies the allegations against him, Clash could be tried in the court of public opinion regardless. Although Sesame Workshop has already announced that the Elmo character will continue to be featured on Sesame Street during Clash's absence, it's hard to imagine that the show won't receive some serious blowback from this as well."In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a then 23-year-old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with Kevin Clash," reps for the show said in a statement.
Clash, 52, who has been Elmo's Muppeteer since 1984, adamantly maintains the accusation is false, but the show was forced to investigate.
Says Clash, according to 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."
"We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action," Sesame Workshop said in the statement. "We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated."
While the show's probe was unable to find proof that Clash had engaged in a relationship with the accuser while he was a minor, it did find evidence that the man behind one of the most beloved children's television characters had engaged in inappropriate behavior against company standards.
"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," Sesame Workshop said.
In light of the incident, Clash will be moving away from Sesame Street for the foreseeable future.
"Kevin insists that the allegation of underage conduct is false and defamatory and he is taking actions to protect his reputation," the Workshop noted. "We have granted him a leave of absence to do so."
UPDATE: Clash's accuser recants his allegations. Hopefully Kevin Clash can return to Sesame Street and get back to entertaining ASAP.
Tags: Sadness, Sesame Street
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"In other related news, a giant squid was seen embracing a giant, ancient castle in England in a lurid, naked embrace. More on that, after the break."
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I think this is needed... From the Classic FF - http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/09/fan_fiction_friday_elmo_in_lessons_learned_on_sesa.php
"Elmo's going to cum!!"
IMAGINE IT IN THE VOICE
the fact that it's just now coming to light, seven years later makes me suspicious. Not necessarily that it happened, though I hope it was more aboveboard than it's being portrayed, but that maybe this now 23 year old wants a new house and a WiiU.
Assuming Muppeteers can do anything aboveboard, that is, considering they spend their careers under the floor or behind low lying walls....
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/12/voice-of-elmo-on-leave-after-denying-relationship-with-teen/
Worth noting that it points out that word "sexual" is never used on Sesame Street's side by saying there was a relationship. Obviously that could just be PR.
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I'm seeing the word "pedophile" bandied about here a bit, and I'd like to mention that the definition of a pedophile is someone who chiefly or only is sexually interested in pre-pubescent children. Therefore it could not possibly apply here.
I hate to hear that word misused. I've seen it used to condemn May-December relationships between two adults, which is absolutely absurd. Now in this case, I guess if it's legally proven that he had sex with a 16 year-old, and the age of consent is higher in that state (it's as low as 13, as high as 18, depending where you go), then he committed a crime. I personally think that law is wrong, and this is all bullshit, but that's irrelevant to "justice," of course. .
That aside, Elmo is bloody annoying.
@bonzulac Actually "pedophile", refers only to little girls, "pederasty" for boys, and "ephebophilia" for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19.
@jonap "Pedophile could refer to girls or boys. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pedophile
Everything else you said is correct.
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@bonzulac OK, legal or not, the idea of a 50 year-old man seeking out sixteen year-old sex partners (of either gender) offends me. The idea that a young person sixteen years of age is somehow a fully functional adult, capable of a healthy sexual relationship with someone old enough to be his/her father is ludicrous.
As a parent, I find it somewhat easier to see the "establishment" side of this argument.
@James.k.Polk @bonzulac And yet they're also boinking each other, producing kids out of wedlock, and too much of incompetent parents to raise their kids properly. And what that led up to? Massive flocks of neglected, ill-bred brats. THAT to me is the REAL crime!
@James.k.Polk Do you understand the difference between "offensive" and "ludicrous" and illegal, though? And if you were a parent in most other times or places, you'd consider a daughter an old maid at 16.
@James.k.Polk @bonzulac At that point however, once age of consent is established, it really isn't any of your business.
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@jonap @EliasAlgorithm @James.k.Polk @bonzulac let's let the courts decide that should it come to that.
@EliasAlgorithm @James.k.Polk @bonzulac Not really, age of consent is only an exemption in, close-in-age relationships:
http://sex-crimes.laws.com/statutory-rape/romeo-and-juliet-laws
A 52 year old and a 16 year old, is statutory rape. Even in the case of prostitution.
@Anony-Mouse Bizarrely, yes. It's a character that was in the background for a long time. Other people also helmed the Little Red Menace before this! He really only rose to serious prominence once Clash got him and then his segment ate up half of Sesame Street's run-time. Which, you can't tell me, isn't the reason they're bringing this to light. The show's been getting complaints about Elmo's screen-hogging for years. (for real - 'traditionalists' actually write to the show to raise a fuss about him taking time from the 'older' Muppets.)
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Am I the only one that is wondering why this story is even getting play on Topless Robot? I mean, it's definitely newsworthy, but where's the nerd factor?
@luke.filip316 @AFMG You're also forgetting the fact that he was one of the leading men of the FFF "masterpeice", "S is for Swampass".
I don't think you need anymore of an explanation then that, but there also is the fact that this looks really bad for not just Sesame Street, but for Jim Henson's Workshop, and possibly puppetiers in general.
That's all I'll say for this story.
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@AFMG @luke.filip316 Nope, it's all Muppets, even if it's tangentially related to Jim Henson it's nerdy.
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@luke.filip316 Well, I'm taking a guess. Elmo is from Sesame Street and it is connected to Muppets and Muppets seem to be a nerd thing. Or maybe I'm shooting in the dark, who knows.
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I confess I am puzzled by the reactions I am reading here.
If this story were about a 50 year old man banging a 16 year girl, everyone would agree that the guy is a perv and a borderline pedophile. As it is an alleged gay relationship, it is supposed to be all about personal choice?
Anyone else remember the scandal when Jeff Smith (the Frugal Gourmet) was found to have dallied with his under-aged assistants?
@James.k.Polk Funny, my favorite Frugal Gourmet episode was the one that guest starred Elmo...
@James.k.Polk As I mentioned, not everything is black or white. From my personal point of view, my reaction would've been the same if it was a teenage boy or a girl. As I said, this has a lot of circumstances that should be taken in consideration. Nevertheless, if what is portrayed in "Being Elmo" is close to the truth, Mr. Clash has done many good deeds in his life and, for me, one cannot condemn a person just for a mistake if he/she has been a good person. Obviously, this is not just a matter of giving someone a free pass just because he helped an old woman cross the street. But I'll always like to look at all the facts before jumping to conclusions and despise how the media likes to jump like sharks over this kind of news.
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@AFMG I'm jumping to no conclusions whatsoever. I do find it telling, however, that it is the bosses at CTW and PBS who have suspended Mr. Clash. That wasn't due to some right-wing pressure, it had pretty much already happened when the story broke today.
And I stand by my opinion that a 50 year old man seeking out minors for sex partners is something worse than a "May/December" romance and something closer to pedophilia. And yes, I am aware that the true definition of pedophile does not include sex with adolescents.
@James.k.Polk @AFMG it's only telling in the sense that regardless of whether or not these were two people of age, Clash was guilty of inappropriate use of office equipment.
It's also not unusual for a company to see a scandal coming and put an employee on leave of absence. It says in their statement they put him on leave so he could pursue legal defamation options against the accuser.
@James.k.Polk @AFMG Yes. This is a person taking advantage of his position. Nothing romantic about it.
@chiller326 That most recent clone of his died. We're uploading his memories into the new model now. We're debating including this little number.
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Today is a day filled with sorrow beyond measure - the day Fan Fiction became Fact.
Seriously, I wish there was some hole I could just crawl into and die.
@itsbensiegel "I wish there was some hole I could just crawl into and die" Man, either Dr. Abraxas is still recovering from Rob's departure or he thought that was way too easy.
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@itsbensiegel Be careful when discussing fan fiction and wishing for holes. Bad things happen.
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Here's hoping everything shakes out for the best for kids who are going to miss Elmo/notice Elmo got different. That weirds a kid out. I mean never mind being younger and first hearing about Michael Jackson, I still remember the crushing morning watching Dink the Dinosaur and Pee-Wee's Playhouse DID NOT come on because he had been caught in the theater that week. That's a fucked up conversation for a kid to have.
Thoughts go out to all parties involved in the important grown up business here, obviously. All I know is, I may not like Elmo much but I still miss Chairy and she was a goddamned chair, not the ever-lovin ping-pong ball eyed idol a' millions.
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This is just what public broadcasting and Sesame Street needs, after the ridiculous hoopla during the Presidential debates.
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@xenothaulus I was just about to say that Romney is a little late with the Sesame Street smear campaign...
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Hopefully we find out rather quickly if there's anything to these allegations.
Being falsely accused of underage sex is probably the worst thing that can happen to someone from a societal perspective. Hopefully they get to the bottom of this ASAP, and if the charges are bogus hopefully CTW doesn't can him and the public is able to get past it.
