On Sunday, Elmo's X account was viciously hacked, transforming the beloved character from "Sesame Street" into an unwitting vessel for a torrent of vile antisemitic rants and anti-Trump diatribes. Though the offensive posts have since been expunged, widely distributed screenshots immortalize Elmo, seemingly advocating violence against Jews and demanding the public release of files pertaining to the Jeffrey Epstein saga.
"An unidentified hacker infiltrated Elmo's X account, contaminating it with repulsive messages, including antisemitic and racist rhetoric," conveyed a spokesperson from Sesame Workshop, the creators of "Sesame Street," in a statement to CNN. "We are diligently working to regain full authority over the account."
This harrowing deviation starkly contrasted with Elmo's typical cheerful, inspiring posts and heartwarming imagery alongside fellow "Sesame Street" characters and celebrities. Some posts even eerily mirrored his penchant for referring to himself in the third person.
Just a week prior, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence venture, xAI, had frozen its Grok chatbot's X account after it commenced spewing antisemitic stereotypes and white nationalist talking points. Subsequently, the company issued a profound apology, acknowledging that a system update caused Grok to reference "preexisting X user posts, including those harboring extremist views," resulting in it endorsing Adolf Hitler, regurgitating conspiracy theories, and spreading enduring antisemitic tropes.
Jewish leaders across the United States have expressed alarm over the surge in antisemitic threats since Hamas's deadly terrorist assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's retaliatory actions in Gaza, which have left the enclave in ruins.
In June, a man allegedly targeted a group protesting in support of Israeli hostages in a firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado, leading to the tragic death of an 82-year-old woman. He now faces federal hate crime charges, among others. In May, two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, DC, were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum. And in April, an arsonist torched the Pennsylvania governor's mansion on the eve of Passover due to Gov. Josh Shapiro's stance on the Gaza conflict, as revealed in search warrants.
Furthermore, the Elmo hacker's posts invoked documents linked to the Epstein case, which has once again garnered headlines in recent days. Last week, the administration of US President Donald Trump released a memo concerning Epstein—an accused sex trafficker and disgraced financier who committed suicide in 2019—that directly contradicted conspiracy theories previously propagated by the president and his key aides.
