Hacker Impersonating Elmo Made Antisemitic X Posts

New York Times

2 days ago

A hacker shared a string of racist and antisemitic posts from the X account of Elmo, the fuzzy red monster from 'Sesame Street,' the owner and producer of the children's show said on Sunday.
The posts, on a verified account with more than 600,000 followers, contained racial slurs, antisemitic language and commentary about President Trump and the so-called Epstein files, the remaining investigative documents of the sex-trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The posts were removed shortly after they were published on Sunday afternoon.
'Elmo's X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts,' a spokeswoman for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind 'Sesame Street,' said in a brief statement. 'We are working to restore full control of the account.'
Elmo, the perpetually 3-and-a-half-year-old beloved Muppet character on 'Sesame Street,' often teaches his young audience life lessons like kindness and patience.
Elmo's account had not posted any new messages as of midnight. X could not immediately be contacted for comment.
Law enforcement officials and advocacy organizations have described a recent surge in hate speech in the United States, especially antisemitism. Experts say antisemitism has risen sharply since Hamas led an attack on Israel in 2023, killing more than 1,000 people. The Israeli military has killed more than 58,000 people in Gaza since then, according to Gaza's health ministry, in its bid to destroy the militant group.
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2024, the highest number on record and a 344 percent increase over the previous five years. These included online incidents where individuals or groups were harassed on social media or via direct messages, although the organization said it did not attempt to assess the total amount of antisemitism online.
'Elevated antisemitism has become a persistent reality for American Jewish communities,' the organization said in its report about the 2024 incidents.
In early June, a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Jewish group calling for the release of hostages in Gaza. One of the victims later died of her wounds. Prosecutors charged a man with first degree murder and a hate crime, among other offenses.
The previous month, two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were fatally shot outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. A man was later charged with crimes that included first-degree murder.
And in April, a man set fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion on the first night of Passover, forcing Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, to flee with his family.