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Yikes.

I can't imagine anyone else being Elmo and I hope hope hope it's not true.

@MamaMoose: They're saying that the boy was 18 at the time. If true, still pretty sketchy judgement to me... but a million times better than being 16.

Wow! Either way I don't know that it was the best judgment to be with someone so borderline in age, but I guess we will see
What happens.

@IcebergMom: Elmo is bigger than Kevin Clash... if a scandal emerges, then they can replace him with other puppeteers!

Elmo will live on!

@mrsjazz: Yah it's totally personal and private... I just feel a bit misled by the documentary. Oh well, I'm sure that they had their reasons for keeping it out... that makes me sad, but I can understand it.

“I am a gay man. I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter,” Clash told ABC News. “I had a relationship with the accuser. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to characterize it as something other than what it was.”

Straight from the source! The boy was 16 at the time but he is 23 now.

Sad face. I watched the documentary too @mrbee's rec. I got the warm and fuzzies about Kevin Clash and how he is the uuber puppeteer.

Such is life I suppose. Maybe you guys are right, Grover will be the new elmo?

@prettylizy: There are several other puppeteers trained to do Elmo... if the scandal grows, then they'd probably retire Elmo for a while and then bring him back with other puppetters.

@mrbee: I think you're right. Elmo is an international icon right now too. Kids just love him.

@daniellemybelle: I totally agree with the lawyer part.... and of course he didn't come out with the accusations until Kevin was getting press for "Being Elmo" (which I loved by the way! I fully cried at the sequence where he visited the heme onc kids.) I would hope that being gay wouldn't adversely affect his career. We're in an age where 3 states just approved gay marriage through referendum, so I think times are really changing.

I still think a relationship with an 18 year old shows really bad judgment though, especially if they were acquainted while the young man was underage... which if I remember correctly, Sesame Street says was true.

Sad day for Elmo who my daughter loves so dearly. Why does everything so wonderful tend to come with drama ?

Unfortunately, with fame comes this kind of crap. If I were greedy for money and evil and had a relationship with him that became physical at the age of 18, I would totally do this too. That being said, it's a little tough to believe that their relationship began when the accuser was 16 and nothing physical happened until it became legal.

Also, I think there are plenty of bi and gay men out there who were once married and fathered children. I don't think his sexuality is an issue... until he starts dating a minor when his career is about children... then of course it's a PR nightmare.

Sad for him, sad for Sesame (he's an Executive Producer, not just the voice/puppeteer for Elmo)!

I thought the documentary revealed KC having an unusually estranged marriage and I sorta got a feeling he was not straight from the movie. (I watched it after MrBee told HB about it awhile back.)