Elmo’s X account posted antisemitic and racist posts after it was hacked on Sunday, a spokesperson for the makers of “Sesame Street” said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Elmo’s X account posted a statement saying the account “was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place.”
“We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured,” it said. “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, which is the nonprofit organization behind “Sesame Street,” had said on Monday that Elmo’s X account was “briefly compromised” on Sunday “by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts.”
The spokesperson said the social media account, which is verified and has more than 600,000 followers, has since been secured.
The posts contained slurs against Jews and commentary about President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in prison in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges. The posts were removed Sunday afternoon, shortly after appearing on the platform.
Epstein’s case has been back in the news after the Justice Department and FBI released a report saying their review had found no evidence of a long-rumored “client list,” and that security video confirms no one entered the cell area before Epstein’s death. The findings sparked a furor among some Trump supporters after right-wing media figures spent years promoting the idea of a cover-up or conspiracy.
The posts on Elmo’s X account were published several days after the team behind Grok, Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot, deleted several posts on Musk’s X in which the chatbot made antisemitic comments and praised Adolf Hitler. The company later issued an apology.
Musk and X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, have been criticized for a surge of antisemitic and other hate speech on the site since he took ownership in October 2022. Musk allowed previously banned users back onto the platform — including Andrew Tate, Kanye West and some notorious neo-Nazi figures — and reduced content moderation in the name of free speech.
The Anti-Defamation League has also also been tracking a rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. The nonprofit organization said that last year, it recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents nationwide, which is the highest number since it started monitoring more than four decades ago. That marked a 5% increase in incidents since 2023, and a 893% increase over the past decade.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
Sarah Lynch Baldwin is a deputy managing editor of CBSNews.com. She helps lead national and breaking news coverage and shapes editorial workflows.
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