Hacked Elmo X account posted 'disgusting messages,' Sesame Workshop says

Elmo's X account was hacked and infiltrated with antisemitic posts, the producer of the children's show "Sesame Street" said.

The beloved Muppet character's account "was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts," a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY.

The statement also said Sesame Workshop is "working to restore full control of the account.”

The posts had been removed as of July 14, and the account, which boasts more than 600,000 followers, reflected the latest post being from July 12. However, the since-deleted posts included racial slurs and antisemitic language, according to several outlets including The New York Times and BBC.

Some of the messages also included mention of President Donald Trump and the purported client files belonging to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, according to the outlets.

Elmo account known for positive messages

The X account for Elmo, the eternally 3-and-a-half year old red monster, is known for expressing positivity and promoting mental health awareness.

The Elmo account went viral last year after asking, "How is everybody doing?" The post, which garnered more than 19,000 replies and 220 million views to date, sparked responses from users about their anxieties and difficulties. Many accounts representing large companies also chimed in at the time.

Between promoting Sesame Workshop, the page has continued to maintain its uplifting tone since. As recently as July 7, the account wrote, "Elmo will be right here cheering you on."

After the Elmo account was hacked July 13, some users defended the Muppet character's platform.

"I thought we all agreed @elmo is off limits," one user wrote.

Another said, "despite the memes made online about them, these characters are important to preschoolers."

Elmo hack follows Grok chatbot's antisemitic responses

The Elmo account hack on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform follows another antisemitism incident that occurred on the Grok AI chatbot last week.

The chatbot, which is also owned by Musk, shared responses that praised Adolf Hitler, used antisemitic phrases and attacked users with traditionally Jewish surnames, X users said on July 8.

On July 12, Grok apologized "for the horrific behavior that many experienced." Its statement also said in part that "the root cause was an update to a code path upstream of the @grok bot."

Incidents of antisemitism across America reached a record high in 2024, according to an annual report released by the Anti-Defamation League in April.

Contributing: Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at [email protected].