It was just last week Monday that Sheldon Stephens, the man who accuses Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of inappropriate sexual contact while he was still a teen. Later on in the week Stephens recanted his story adding the relationship was between two consenting adults. Just yesterday Stephens surfaced again, this time changing his tune admitted he’s been forced to recant his story and paid $125,000 to remain silent.
In the aftermath of the resurrected accusations by Stephens and a new man coming forward making similar accusations, Kevin Clash is now resigning at the man behind the most popular Sesame Street puppet Elmo.
The production company of the children program, Sesame Workshop, released this statement on behalf of TMZ.com just this morning, “Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, 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.”
No official statements have been released from Clash himself. He’s provided the voice of the beloved puppet for nearly 28 years.
(Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
