Latest news with #racist
Gizmodo
5 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Elmo Breaks Silence on His Antisemitic Social Media Posts
Over the weekend, some sort of cybercrime cretin hacked into the X account belonging to Elmo, the friendly puppet from Sesame Street, and used it to spout a bilge of anti-semitic and racist material. 'Kill all Jews,' read one post. Another mentioned Jeffrey Epstein, with the added scrawl: 'ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE.' Yet another post used the N-word. The posts remained online until Tuesday, when they were taken down. Elmo followed up the vitriolic posts with a return to his usual brand of warmhearted affection: 'Elmo loves you,' the puppet posted. However, the lack of an immediate apology from the puppet's account left some web users angry. Many X users insisted that the account should address the incident, and seemed to treat Elmo as if he were a real person instead of a fictional TV character. Many of the accounts that expressed anger at Elmo mentioned Israel or included emojis of Israeli flags. 'Still not a single word of apology from @elmo or team,' wrote one account on Monday, whose bio included an Israeli flag. 'No apologies for your poor behavior? Teaching everyone Jew hate is normal?' another account, whose profile reads 'Antizionism is a hate movement,' posted. Meanwhile, the account for Canary Mission, a controversial pro-Israel group, wrote: 'Elmo's account tweeted: 'Kill all Jews.' Sesame Street blamed a 'hack.' No proof. No apology. No accountability. Christina Vittas — the person behind Elmo — still has her job. We demand a real investigation. Or fire the person responsible.' Another group, the Combat Antisemitism Movement, wrote: 'Even though the tweets were deleted, they were seen by thousands. No apology. No explanation yet. We call on the Sesame Street team to urgently investigate this breach, review account security and staff access, and issue a public apology. This wasn't a joke. It was a call for murder.' Yet another account, whose bio includes the Israeli flag, wrote: 'I investigated the source of the @elmo incident — since Sesame Street has not apologized. I found it. This is why you shouldn't allow your kids to listen to Ms. Rachel.' The account then shared images of Rachel Griffin-Accurso, a children's entertainer who has appeared alongside Elmo in several episodes of Sesame Street. Griffin-Accurso has been targeted by Jewish advocacy groups over her rhetoric in support of Gazan children. In April, the advocacy group StopAntisemitism labeled Griffin-Accurso its 'Antisemite of the Week,' apparently for having the temerity to repeatedly suggest that children shouldn't starve to death or have their limbs blown off. On Tuesday, Elmo's account finally issued an apology: 'On Sunday, Elmo's X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place,' a statement shared online reads. 'We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured. These posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop or Sesame Street, and no one at the organization was involved.' To some web users, however, the apology was still not enough. Several accounts bemoaned that it had taken the account too long to say anything about the incident. 'This took TWO full days to write?' one account asked. While a certain amount of outrage is clearly understandable, the notion that Elmo, himself, or the people who ran his account were responsible for some sort of hateful screed on X, seems dubious at best. That said, it's unclear why it took the account a while to issue a statement. Gizmodo reached out to the Sesame Workshop for more information. To be sure, there were also quite a few web users who responded to the whole debacle with bemusement and humor instead of outrage. Many joked that Kanye West, who recently released a single called 'Heil Hitler' and has referred to himself as a 'Nazi,' had hijacked Elmo's account. X (or Twitter, as it was previously known) has never been a platform that is particularly well known for account security. Prior to Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform, high-level accounts were hacked quite often—including those belonging to Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and Joe Biden. After Musk's acquisition in 2022, the site has remained a place where account hijackings are common.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sesame Street responds to vile hacking of Elmo's X account
Sesame Workshop has again addressed the embarrassing hack it suffered on Monday when a hacker accessed the Elmo account and posted a series of shocking posts targeting Jewish people and trolling President Donald Trump. 'On Sunday, Elmo's X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place,' read a tweet from the Sesame Workshop. The statement continued, 'We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured. 'These posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop or Sesame Street, and no one at the organization was involved.' A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop previously confirmed the digital security breach to Daily Mail on Sunday evening. 'Elmo's X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts,' the rep said. 'We are working to restore full control of the account.' Following the post from the Sesame Workshop, a number of followers on the platform peppered in responses that ranged from jokes to troubleshooting. 'I don't believe you were hacked,' said one user. 'I think the real Elmo came out.' Another user wryly chimed in, 'Big Bird's silence on this issue has been deafening.' One user went on a long rant at the character, saying, 'Elmo, I've been crying and throwing up ever since you posted those very hateful things. 'The truth of it is you were a role model to me growing up and because of that I would always tickle you whenever you asked. The statement ended, 'After what happened on Sunday I was forced to throw you in the dumpster out back my local Chili's and will no longer be having you in my life. Goodbye old friend.' Multiple users rejected Sesame Workshop's denial anyone from their side was involved. 'Sesame workshop has become beyond woke and I guarantee it was someone internal,' one user said. 'If I allowed some sort of breach like this at my job, I would be fired. @SesameWorkshop take accountability. The user said the late Sesame Street founder Jim Henson 'would be horrified' at the lack of accountability in the wake of the humiliating security breach. Following the post from the Sesame Workshop, a number of followers on the platform peppered in responses that ranged from jokes to troubleshooting Another added: 'Serious question. Is anyone ever hacked by an "inside party?" Your inability to apologize MUCH SOONER is weak. But most concerning is that no one believes you were hacked. 'We believe you have an employee who did this intentionally but you haven't explained this because then, of course, we'd all want to know who did it and then expect them to be fired, etc. 'See, the longer you all don't provide details, the more the pressure grows to know more.' The account for Elmo, under the handle @elmo, has more than 639,800 followers, and has been on the platform since November of 2012. 'Elmo lives on Sesame Street and was told to tell you that Elmo is official!' a bio line on the social media page read. On Sunday, it was clear the account had been commandeered by rogue actors, as a series of messages posted called for violence against Jewish people. The post repeated a series of antisemitic tropes and called for harm against Jewish people. The post also took aim at the president, saying, ' DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU'S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILE.' One message tagged in President Donald Trump that read: 'RELEASE THE FILES @readDonaldTrump' along with an offensive term directed at Trump. The hacker also peppered in more sharp responses to people who condemned the racist prank. When one person expressed their frustration with the posts from the account, a profane response used a racial epithet aimed at Black people. When another person said they were going to mute Elmo, a response from the Elmo account contained a transphobic slur. The unlikely hack and subsequent shock messages led for Elmo to become a trending topic on the platform, with a number of different takes on the incident. 'Hacking the official Elmo account gotta be one of the most diabolical things this app has ever seen,' one response read. The account for Elmo, under the handle @elmo, has more than 639,800 followers, and has been on the platform since November of 2012 One social media user said that the incident provided an insight into how deeply antisemitism is embedded in some people A few people made reference to rapper Kanye West's history of antisemitic X posts, which he has since distanced himself from. 'Kanye and Elmo should collab sometime,' one user said, while another asked, 'Who let Kanye on Elmo's account?' One user posted a long-circulating meme of the Sesame Street character standing in front of flames to aptly summarize the situation with the hacker. One social media user said that the incident provided an insight into how deeply antisemitism is embedded in some people. 'This is a real tweet from the Elmo X account. It has since been deleted,' said the user. 'We're dealing with depraved immoral sociopaths who target even a beloved children's character in order to incite violence and hate against Jews.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sesame Workshop Condemns 'Abhorrent' Antisemitic & Racist Content From Elmo's Hacked X Account
Sesame Workshop is addressing Elmo's hacked X account that shared 'abhorrent' messages that were antisemitic and racist. 'On Sunday, Elmo's X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place,' read the statement on X, the microblogging platform owned by Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter. More from Deadline Jon Stewart's 'Sesame Street' Spoof Addresses Elmo's Tweets, With Muppet Saying He's 'Alt-Right' So There's 'No Reason' To Pull PBS Funding Sesame Workshop Says Unknown Hacker Responsible For Posting Antisemitic And Racist Posts To Elmo's X Account After Linda Yaccarino's Departure As X CEO, Will Elon Musk Once Again Flip Off Advertisers In Favor Of AI? 'We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured,' the statement continued. 'These posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop or Sesame Street, and no one at the organization was involved.' Elmo's X account usually shares wholesome content, asking users how they are and spreading love and kindness. However, on Sunday, a string of messages were posted shocking its more than 650,000 followers. Some of the posts included linking Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. After Sesame Workshop regained control of the account, the posts were promptly deleted. Earlier today, a new post from Elmo was shared expressing his gratitude following the grotesque incident. 'Thank you for being kind to Elmo and all the people in your neighborhood. Elmo loves you,' read the post. Thank you for being kind to Elmo and all the people in your neighborhood. Elmo loves you.❤️ — Elmo (@elmo) July 15, 2025 The incident on X follows another one in which X's chatbot, Grok, was spitting out comments that lauded Adolf Hitler. X later issued an apology and took the chatbot offline for a couple of days while it reprogrammed it. On Monday night's episode of The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart addressed Elmo's hacked X account. Stewart dedicated a whole bit with 'Elmo' as an alt-right propagandist. On Sunday, Elmo's X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop… — Elmo (@elmo) July 15, 2025 Best of Deadline Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far 'Street Fighter' Cast: Who's Who In The Live-Action Arcade Film Adaption 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More
The Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Elmo responds after hacker shares ‘disgusting' social media posts
Elmo 's official X account was compromised by a hacker over the weekend, who posted antisemitic and racist content. The hacker's posts included branding Donald Trump as ' Netanyahu 's puppet' and demanding the release of Jeffrey Epstein -related files. Sesame Workshop, the organisation behind Sesame Street, confirmed the hack and stated they were working to restore full control of the account. All offensive and 'disgusting' posts have since been deleted, and Elmo's account later posted a message of kindness. The incident occurred amidst ongoing discussions about the Jeffrey Epstein files, with Elon Musk criticising Donald Trump and a Democratic strategist suggesting Trump orchestrated the file release.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Elmo's X account posts racist and antisemitic messages after being hacked
Hackers gained access to the X account of the puppet Elmo over the weekend and used it to post racist and antisemitic threats as well as make profane references to Jeffrey Epstein. Sesame Workshop was still trying to regain full control on Monday over the red character's account. 'Elmo's X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,' a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said on Monday. Sesame Workshop is the non-profit behind Sesame Street and Elmo. The account was compromised over the weekend and instead of the usual posts of encouragement and kindness, Elmo's 650,000 followers were given antisemitic threats and racist messages. The account also made a profane reference to the convicted sex trafficker Epstein and demanded the US government release more information on him, adding to the controversy over the FBI's confirmation that Epstein killed himself. Those tweets were soon deleted, though Elmo's account retains a link to a Telegram channel from a user who takes credit for the hack. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Elmo's social media account has lately become a place for mental health awareness. Last year, the red fuzzy monster, eternally aged three and a half , caused a sensation when he asked: 'Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?' It prompted responses from Joe Biden and Chance the Rapper. X has long struggled with protecting high-profile accounts that can cause major damage with a single tweet. Last year, multiple British MPs and international organizations saw their accounts breached and used to hawk cryptocurrency.
