Kevin Clash, Voice Actor of Elmo, Resigns After Second Accuser Comes Forward

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

And the saga continues on Sesame Street. Just recently, it was confirmed that Kevin Clash, the voice actor of Elmo, had been accused of having a sexual relationship with a young man when he was only 16 years of age. Clash denied the accusations, and the accuser eventually retracted his statements. He also claimed that he would no longer go through with the settlement offered by Clash’s attorneys and instead wished to clear his name.

Then news broke that there is actually another accuser. And according to TMZ, the second accuser, Cecil Singleton, claims he met Kevin Clash on a gay chat line when he was only 15 years old. He alleges that a sexual relationship began before he was 15 and he accuses Kevin Clash of having a lengthy past of inappropriate sexual relationships with young boys by building their trust early and showering them with gifts. According to the accuser, Clash meets most of these young boys on gay chat lines. He differs from the first accuser in the fact that he does seek money for what he labels as emotional damage, and filed a suit against clash for $5 million.

Throughout all of the controversy, Kevin Clash has actually been on leave at Sesame Street. But now that the controversy has become somewhat of a media circus, the children’s program confirmed on its website that Clash has resigned from his position as Elmo.

In a public statement, Sesame Workshop writes:

Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential.  Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.  Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, 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.

Clash also released a public statement of his own, confirming his departure from Sesame Street:

“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 am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately.”