NEED TO KNOW
The X account of beloved Sesame Street muppet Elmo was hacked on Sunday, July 13, with a series of vulgar posts.
The account, which usually posts in the childlike first-person voice of the fan-favorite character, instead shared several antisemitic statements and promoted a crypto company. It also tagged President Donald Trump, urging him to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
All of the posts were deleted shortly after the hack went viral, but many followers had already screenshotted the evidence.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a Sesame Workshop spokesperson confirmed, “Elmo’s X account was briefly compromised yesterday by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. The account has since been secured.”
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The Epstein posts were timely, given the recent developments in the case of the late billionaire and alleged predator.
On Monday, July 7, the FBI and Department of Justice released a joint memo saying their investigation into Epstein’s alleged crimes and subsequent death in prison was complete. The memo also stated the investigation found that Epstein’s long-rumored “client list” did not exist.
The following day, Trump snapped at a reporter who asked him and Attorney General Pam Bondi for more information on the report.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” the president asked. “This guy’s been talked about for years … are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.”
Trump then asked Bondi if she wanted to “waste the time” addressing the reporter’s question about the alleged sex trafficker as he continued, “I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy, with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration.”
Public interest in Trump’s history with Epstein dates back to the alleged trafficker’s 2019 arrest, but there was a resurgence following Elon Musk’s departure from the White House on May 30.
The former head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency immediately started burning bridges following the end of his government contract, with public criticism of the president and his policies.
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In a scathing rant on X (which has since been deleted), Musk criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein records.
“Time to drop the really big bomb,” Musk posted in June. “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.”
Musk later removed the post and walked back his remarks, saying some of his comments “went too far.”
