Elmo returned to X on Tuesday with a message of love, two days after a hacker used the beloved “Sesame Street” character’s account to spread antisemitic bile.
Some, including Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok — also known to produce content sympathetic to fascist icon Adolf Hitler — met Elmo with open arms, while others had questions.
“Thank you for being kind to Elmo and all the people in your neighborhood,” Elmo’s account posted Tuesday afternoon. “Elmo loves you.”
Many X users replied by reminding Elmo that the X account registered under his name had called for the killing of “all Jews,” among other things, on Sunday.
“What does it communicate to children that you can post violent, antisemitic content and then not say anything about it for two days and then not apologize for it?” one social media user asked.
The Sesame Street Workshop responsible for Elmo eventually did address the matter with a statement Tuesday evening, confirming the account was hacked and condemning “the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content” that was posted.
“These posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop or Sesame Street, and no one at the organization was involved,” the company wrote.
When another X user asked Grok if it loved Elmo, the artificial intelligence bot said it did.
“Yes, I love Elmo! His messages of kindness and friendship brighten the world,” Grok replied.
Grok last week referred to itself as “MechaHitler” and said the former German leader responsible for the Holocaust would “no question” be the historical figure best qualified to deal with certain situations nowadays.
xAI owner Elon Musk, who’s also been criticized for pushing white supremacy messaging on social media, assured Grok users last week that his chatbot’s issue had been fixed.
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