Last week, a man accused Kevin Clash, the voice of Sesame Street’s Elmo, of having sex with him while he was underage; however, after a $125,000 check from Clash’s camp, the young man changed his tune and said while he did have a relationship with Clash, it didn’t actually begin until he was 18 and was completely “consensual.” But now that Mr. 18-and-Consensual’s had some time to think about how much more money he could have squeezed out of Elmo, he’s decided he was lying when he said he lied about being underage, and he only took Clash’s money because he was pressured into signing the agreement. TMZ says:
Sheldon Stephens has met with lawyers and told them he was pressured into recanting his allegation and insists he’s telling the truth when he says he had sex with Clash when he was 16.
Stephens — who is now 23 — is telling lawyers he will gladly forfeit the $125,000 to restore his name.
Stephens is saying he was literally crying during the final negotiations and repeatedly said he didn’t want to sign.
Sesame Street’s had some time to think about it too, and they’ve decided homosexual pedophilia don’t really mesh with Sesame Street’s core values. They said in a statement to Fox News:
“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us [at Sesame Street] wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned. This is a sad day for Sesame Street.”
[Additionally, Kevin issued statement of his own saying]: “I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer.”
I’m not condoning what Kevin did, but I’d like to point out that Doug Hutchinson married Courtney Stodden when she was only 16, and nobody’s carting him to jail. Which just goes to show you you can get away with just about anything, even statutory rape, so long as you’re old, white, and hetero. God bless the USA!
Maria Menounos in the December issue of Men’s Health, because Elmo doesn’t look as good in a tangerine bikini):
