Elmo’s X Account Hacked with Antisemitic and Racist Posts, Prompting Outrage
The official X account for the Sesame Street character Elmo was hacked on Sunday, posting antisemitic and racist messages such as ‘Kill all Jews’ and references to the Jeffrey Epstein documents. The posts were quickly deleted, but they sparked significant backlash and discussion online.
The Sesame Street character, whose account has over 640,000 followers, began posting several provocative and offensive posts, according to an image obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘Kill all Jews,’ one post read. ‘RELEASE THE FILES @realDonaldTrump CHILD F—ER,’ another post read, in what appeared to be a reference to the Jeffrey Epstein documents. The latest post read, ‘Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. F—JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU’S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED.’ The account also replied to several users with similar language. All posts and replies were later deleted.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Sesame Workshop spokesperson confirmed, ‘Elmo’s X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account.’ Before the posts were deleted, several X users from both sides of the political aisle poked fun at the character’s account containing adult language. ‘I’m forever scarred … by @elmo. Words I never expected to utter,’ Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote. HuffPost deputy editor Philip Lewis remarked, ‘I thought we all agreed @elmo is off limits.’ ‘See what happens when you defund PBS @elmo,’ Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., wrote. Washington Reporter editor-in-chief Matthew Foldi joked, ‘Elmo would win at least 10% in a nationwide Democratic primary based on these tweets alone.’
Sesame Street has come under the spotlight in recent months as Republicans have pushed for efforts to defund PBS. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order attempting to pull federal funding from PBS in May.
The incident has reignited debates about online security and the protection of iconic public figures’ social media accounts. While the posts were quickly deleted and the account has since been restored, the incident underscores the vulnerability of even well-known brands to cyber threats and the potential for online spaces to be exploited for hate speech.