Sesame Workshop regains control of Elmo’s hacked X account after racist posts

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Sesame Workshop regained control of its Elmo account on the X platform Monday after a hacker gained access and posted a string of racist and antisemitic messages.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/07/2025 (455 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sesame Workshop regained control of its Elmo account on the X platform Monday after a hacker gained access and posted a string of racist and antisemitic messages.

“Elmo’s X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts,” Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street” and Elmo, said in a statement Monday.

The account was compromised over the weekend and instead of the usual posts of encouragement and kindness, Elmo’s 650,000 followers were given antisemitic threats and a profane reference to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Those tweets were soon deleted.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elmo’s social media account has lately become a place for mental health awareness. Last year, the red fuzzy monster, eternally 3 1/2, caused a sensation when he asked: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” It prompted responses from then-President Joe Biden and Chance the Rapper.

FILE - Elmo of the film
FILE - Elmo of the film "Being Elmo" poses for a portrait in the Fender Music Lodge during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)
Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Piece of Winnipeg’s magic history disappears

Kelly-Anne Riess 5 minute read Preview

Piece of Winnipeg’s magic history disappears

Kelly-Anne Riess 5 minute read Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026

A piece of Winnipeg’s magic history has vanished, and internationally renowned escape artist Dean Gunnarson is offering a $500 reward to anyone who can make it reappear.

The plaque marked the birthplace of what has become the world’s largest organization of professional and amateur magicians, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, which was founded in Winnipeg more than a century ago.

Gunnarson said fellow magician and local magic historian Bruce Thompson discovered the disappearance Tuesday while on his way to work.

Thompson returned to inspect the site and found what appeared to be evidence it had been forcibly removed.

Read
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026

A Life's Story: Writer built bridges with genuine curiosity, compassion for diversity of religious practices

Janine LeGal 6 minute read Preview

A Life's Story: Writer built bridges with genuine curiosity, compassion for diversity of religious practices

Janine LeGal 6 minute read Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026

Brenda Suderman knew how to make people feel comfortable. For a journalist, that character trait is a real strength, and it made people trust and appreciate her.

Whether covering musicals, worship spaces, the effects of pandemic shutdowns, death rituals and practices of different traditions, the discovery of the burial of 2,284 infants in unmarked graves, or any other of the countless topics she wrote about in her four- decade career, Suderman did it with genuine interest and care.

Born and raised in Winkler, Suderman grew up on a farm. Much of her childhood was spent in gardens and sugar beet fields.

Baptized at 16, she became a member of the Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church. The restrictions against women at the time contributed to planting the seeds of Suderman’s feminist perspective.

Read
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026

Chopped trees will leave a ‘blight’ on Windsor Park

Kelly-Anne Riess 3 minute read Preview

Chopped trees will leave a ‘blight’ on Windsor Park

Kelly-Anne Riess 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Robert Gordon has watched the trees grow along a popular Windsor Park walking path for nearly six decades.

Now, as Manitoba Hydro cuts them down to protect nearby power lines, he says a familiar part of his childhood neighbourhood is disappearing.

Although he no longer lives in the area, Gordon regularly returns to walk or cycle along the tree-lined path, which runs parallel to Archibald Street.

He was concerned when he recently spotted crews clearing vegetation near the entrance to the path, but initially assumed they were removing brush. When he returned, he discovered the clearing had extended farther along the corridor.

Read
Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Trump sticks with tariffs even as US voters turn against them before the midterms

Bernard Condon, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Trump sticks with tariffs even as US voters turn against them before the midterms

Bernard Condon, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:13 AM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Maybe President Donald Trump really does believe that “tariff” is the most beautiful word in the dictionary.

Despite higher prices, criticism from trade experts and displeasure among voters, Trump holds fast to his belief that imposing the highest import duties on U.S. trading partners since the Great Depression is a winner.

A recent poll suggests that is a big gamble with less than a month before the Nov. 3 midterms. Most U.S. adults disapprove of his trade policies, with more than 64% saying he has gone too far with his latest tariffs, compared with 58% in January.

A look at the political, legal and economic challenges to the Republican president's approach to trade.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 9:13 AM CDT

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions until after 10:45 a.m. After that, the moon moves from Libra into Scorpio.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You have a choice. You can either get embroiled in disputes about shared property, debt, insurance issues or inheritances; or instead, relax and have a playful day featuring sporting events, social outings and fun activities with kids.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Carney: Trump’s ‘energy ceasefire’ could ‘de-escalate’ war in Ukraine

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Carney: Trump’s ‘energy ceasefire’ could ‘de-escalate’ war in Ukraine

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:18 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Mark Carney thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for “his leadership toward securing an energy ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia, the Prime Minister's Office said on Sunday.

But on the same day, Carney also expressed to Ukraine's leader that Trump's new diesel supply agreement with Russia undermines Canada's efforts to end the war in Europe.

Trump posted on his Truth Social account on Sunday that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to an "energy ceasefire," but did not immediately offer any details.

Carney expressed “strong support for this agreement," according to a readout from the PMO that followed a conversation between the two leaders. And on his own social media account, Carney offered that Trump’s newly announced “energy ceasefire” could help wind down Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 5:18 PM CDT