Don't tickle me, Elmo. It's time for Sesame Street to fire Kevin Clash. Elmo's a joke and Sesame Street's becoming one.
When allegations arose against Clash, a co-executive producer of Sesame Street and "Muppet Captain," Clash finally, at the age of 52, managed to come out of the closet. Good for him on that and we had hoped that the allegations that he had engaged in sex with a then-underage male were not true.
The accuser re-canted and we could all exhale and go on with our lives.
Sesame Street released the following statement, "We are pleased that this matter has been brought to a close, and we are happy that Kevin can move on from this unfortunate episode."
But now comes the news (here and here) that the accuser signed a document (crying, as he signed) agreeing to recant and was paid $125,000 for recanting.
That's no recanting.
That's paying off.
And a puppeteer for public television can afford a $125,000 pay off? Well now we know where the funding for public television goes.
It was one thing to wait for facts to emerge. It was another to find out that Clash had paid off his accuser. By doing so, he now looks guilty and he turns Sesame Street into a dirty joke.