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Kevin Clash Resigns as Voice of Elmo

Sesame Workshop officials say they don't want anything to distract from the mission and message of the educational show, Sesame Street.

 

Turner Station native Kevin Clash has resigned from Sesame Street, bringing to an end his long tenure as the voice, personality and heart of the iconic muppet Elmo.

His resignation comes in the aftermath of allegations that he had an underage sexual relationship with Sheldon Stephens, who initially claimed the relationship occurred when he was just 16.

Sesame Workshop issued the following statement on its blog:

Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential.  Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.  Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street.  This is a sad day for Sesame Street.

The allegations of sexual misconduct were first made by an unidentified accuser on Nov. 12.

The next day, the alleged victim recanted his story and said it was instead a relationship between consenting adults.

On Nov. 14, The Smoking Gun website identified the accuser as Stephens, and cited a checkered past that included a reckless driving conviction, accusations of armed robbery and passing a bad check—the charges for which were dropped when Stephens made good on the debt.

The original accusation, made on the website TMZ, effectively outed Clash as gay.

“I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter,” he said of his sexuality in a statement he issued last week.

While Clash will no longer be the voice of Elmo, production of Sesame Street has not been affected by Clash's resignation, according to the New York Times.

The paper reports that Clash helped identify puppeteers who could take over his duties during his absence, and who could "play Elmo for some time."

Clash, 52, is a Turner Station native and a 1979 graduate of Dundalk High School.

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Related Topics: Elmo, Kevin Clash, Kevin Clash resigns, Sesame Street, and Voice of Elmo resigns

Erika Murray

12:39 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Sounds, to me, like it was more a case of "resign" or be fired.

Sesame Workshop is just trying to avoid negative publicity, which I understand, but so much for two sides to every story... only the side that the media latched onto matters, as usual.

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Tim

1:14 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Well I mean at this point its a second accuser, and even if he's lying as well, it's just bad PR. like you say, the masses only remember the initial claim, not the fact that the claim is proven false ultimately.

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Joe

1:23 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

It is being reported that Clash has paid off the first accuser to the tune of $125,000 to keep it on the down low.
Predator is now creeping into the life of Clash.

Al Day

12:47 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

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troy

1:20 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

It is a shame that his career has been ended by an accusation. He has not been found guilty of any crime. It is a sad day when a persons life can be destroyed by nothing more than hearsay and innuendo.

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Jennifer Hartman

1:32 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

You said he would fit right in as a public school teacher with "all the molester teachers." My understanding of the word "all" must be different than yours. Sorry for that mistake...

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Joe

1:33 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

ALL meaning ALL the MOLESTER teachers! Not meant to say ALL THE TEACHERS! Clear now?

Joe

1:36 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Jennifer, google teacher arrested and see the thousands of stories.

5 charged in alleged teacher-student relationships at New Jersey high school
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/04/us/new-jersey-school-sex-arrests/index.html

4 teachers arrested; accused of having sex with a student
http://www.news4jax.com/news/4-teachers-arrested-accused-of-having-sex-with-a-student/-/475880/17480844/-/s7rvu9/-/index.html

New Jersey 'Teacher Of The Year' Arrested For Sexual Assault; Erica DePalo 'Eccentric,' Student Says
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/teacher-of-the-year-sexual-assault_n_1857467.html

Need more?

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Joe

1:38 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Cuyler Cornell, Aaron La Mere, arrested for sex offenses
Two teachers were arrested for sex-related offenses, Montgomery County Police said Monday. (Maryland)

www.wjla.com/articles/2012/05/two-montgomery-county-teachers-arrested-for-sex-offenses--75713.html#ixzz2Cn0lefPO

mommaof sy

4:05 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Sounds to me like someone was out to get him. Too bad. A very talented man who made it big.

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AllStar

5:19 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Everyone seems to forget the fact that he was a middle aged man having sex with adolescent boys. He should be forced to resign or be fired! You hypocrites would act completely different if this were a priest.

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Karl

9:23 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

When and from what source did you learn it's a "fact" Klash was having sex with adolescents?

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Erika Murray

10:56 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I'm sure Mr. Clash & his lawyer would love to know the source of your "facts".

Edward Wang

6:47 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

And people still pretend that its safe for homosexuals to be around children...

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Christopher Kidwell

7:43 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Evets, quite true. The fact is that heterosexual men and women having sex with someone 'underage' (which I personally feel is a imaginary thing made up by humans) is quite common.

I personally know quite a few people who have admitted to doing that (no, PO, I will NOT tell you who they are so that you can harass them, so go move on) or to having had sex with adults as children and teenagers and yet.... no harm from it in the slightest.

I also know people who have said that there was harm from that but when you get down to brass tacks and press on some tender issues that most gloss over?
The 'harm' isn't coming from the relationships themselves but from the brainwashing by the police that those people had done on them and the pressure put on them to 'testify' against their 'abuser' by parents and others.

HDGresident

6:59 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Pure and simple, bad judgment on the part of Kevin Clash!

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Christopher Kidwell

7:53 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Only in your opinion. 16 is over the age of consent in Maryland. Now, the 15 year old? Might be illegal by the laws on the books but in my moral book? No physical force = nothing immoral about the relationship in question, the 15 year old could have easily told Clash (if the allegations are true) to leave him the hell alone or he would go tell his parents.

number9dream

9:25 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I don't trust a guy who doesn't tuck his shirt in.

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Al Day

12:43 pm on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

How many times did he resign? I read this days ago and now it posts again??

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Sonia Dasgupta

5:51 pm on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

He initially took a leave of absence from his job. The accuser recanted his story, but now Clash has resigned.

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Sonia Dasgupta

5:49 pm on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

This thread was moderated for comments that attack another reader. Comments will be monitored through the holiday -- so please be patient as comments will not publish as quickly. Thanks,
Sonia

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1ke

5:51 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012

I don't mind being moderated, but you will need to be diligent. I attack intemperate, racist and homophobic commentary--and commentators.

Good luck. You have your hands full.

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1ke

3:11 pm on Friday, November 23, 2012

The thinking must be that when things get mean, the number of unique hits on the Patch website goes down. When there was an election going on, venom was good. Now that the election is over, venom is bad.

Rob

6:43 pm on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

This dude is obviously an Obama voter otherwise this would be covered 24/7 on the leftwing nut job news stations. Obama saved Big Bird so Sesame Street could keep getting the welfare check from the regime and now we find out another story that was completely covered up to help Obama get re-elected. Petraeus is exposed after he refuses to give a favorable testimony in the Benghazi cover up, drone shot down, unemployment goes up, Twinkies die, Hamas waits to make sure a republican doesn't get elected so they can attack Israel without fear of the USA backing Israel.

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Larnell

5:51 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012

Jeez Rob is it really that hard to get over it, please next time you post try something new, put in a fact, any fact, c'mon try it

FIFA_archived

5:51 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012

There goes bottle rocket rob. Kaboom.

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