The official X account of beloved Sesame Street character Elmo was hacked on Sunday, with the feed flooded by antisemitic slurs and profane posts attacking US President Donald Trump. The posts described Trump as a “puppet” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and linked him to Jeffrey Epstein, urging him to “release the files”.
In one of the most disturbing messages posted during the breach, Elmo’s account stated: “Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. F**K JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU’S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED.”
Another post read: “RELEASE THE FILES @realDonaldTrump CHILD F****R.”
The account, which has over 600,000 followers, was quickly restored and the offensive messages deleted. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit that produces Sesame Street, confirmed the hack and condemned the content.
“Elmo’s X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts,” the organisation said in a statement. “We are working to restore full control of the account.”
The incident has drawn further attention to the ongoing political controversies surrounding President Trump and the Epstein files. The Trump administration has recently faced scrutiny after the Department of Justice revealed that there are no Epstein files or client list. Trump had previously promised to release these documents during his presidential campaign.
As criticism grew from supporters and allies, Trump defended his administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Truth Social post, writing: “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
The resurgence of interest in the Epstein case was further fuelled by comments made by Elon Musk, the owner of X and a former Trump ally, who publicly accused Trump of being named in the files.
Meanwhile, X continues to face backlash for allowing antisemitic content to proliferate on its platform. Just last week, X’s AI chatbot Grok came under fire after it praised Adolf Hitler, prompting Musk to issue explanations. Platform CEO Linda Yaccarino also recently stepped down amid the growing criticism.
The makers of Sesame Street expressed concern and disappointment over the misuse of Elmo’s account. Elmo, who has been teaching children about kindness since the 1980s, is one of Sesame Street’s most iconic characters. His account, active since 2012, had gone viral last year after posting, “How is everybody doing?” – a message that resonated deeply online and is still pinned to the account.
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