Last year the pederasty of the guy who plays Elmo was revealed when it was found out that his gunsel was underage in some states. His ephebophilia alarmed the several dozen parents who pay more than passing attention to what their precious crotchfruit (thank you, Cat Whisperer!) watch, and I recall some calls for his defenestration after he had debauched his catamite. What happened to him?
Yeah, I could look it up, but don’t really care, except I woke up with that stupid “Jellyman Kelly” song stuck in my head and had some words I don’t get to use often enough, so somebody had to pay. And since I’m sure there are people here who are interested, and some of them are as lazy as I, if someone answered it would be a public service.
Yes, he is. He’d trained a number of understudies, and one article I read at the time mentioned explicitly that they would take over so as to maintain Elmonian continuity.
There are very few Muppets, on Sesame Street or otherwise, that are still performed by their original muppeteers. They all have very talented understudies who can emulate the voice close enough that the transition is relatively straightforward. For example, Frank Oz doesn’t do any of the Muppet Show chracters anymore, not even Miss Piggy or Fozzie, but he will occasionally return to Sesame Street to do Grover. Most of Frank’s characters are now performed by Eric Jacobsen, who does a pretty decent job, and most of Jim Henson’s characters are currently performed by Steve Whitmire.
In case you’re interested, here are a series of nerdy YouTube videos that compare performers.
I haven’t followed this case very closely, so educate me here. Did he break into some bungalows to molest straight Christian toddlers, or did some teenage boys procure fake IDs, go to gay clubs with them, and discover years later that the guy they hooked up with was vaguely famous and that there might be settlement money to be had? Because if it was the latter, I’m a bit less sympathetic to the accusers.
If I recall correctly, his boytoys were in the 16-21 age category. So, technically teenagers but either equally technically adult or very nearly so (I mean, seriously, anyone who thinks 16 year old boys aren’t having sex as often as they can manage needs his/her head examined). Also, if I recall correctly, all participation was consensual although given the age disparity there is some question of possible power issues between the older and younger parties. The original accuser later withdrew/recanted (depending on who you ask) his accusation. Then three more guys stepped forward with similar accusations.
Methinks (strictly personal opinion) that Sheldon Stephens (original accuser) and Kevin Clash probably did have a thing going for awhile and given the young age of Stephens his family might have pressured him into making an accusation. The other three might be folks looking to cash in, and last I heard the most recent three accusations were thrown out of court.
I’m guessing he’s a gay man (who was married for quite a few years to a woman and has a daughter) who likes young men, which makes him only slightly different than straight men who drool over 18 and 20 year old women.
See, I would have thought that the thread was because Elmo has his own show now. But, in fact, that “show” is still technically a part of Sesame Street. But I do wonder if he still appears in the other part of the show, or if he just has that fifteen minute block all to himself.
Aren’t the accusations all from like 15-20 years ago too? That always seems fishy to me. Makes me want to reevaluate my teenage boinking and see if there’s any $$ there.
I’m glad they’re not getting rid of Elmo. They sure know what they’re doing with him- my 15 month old stops whatever she’s doing to gape whenever Elmo’s on. She likes Murray, too. (I feel so guilty that I let her watch Sesame Street. Before the reality of having a toddler I was so staunchly against TV for children. But Mama’s gotta cook dinner some time.)