Does this look like the face of a man who would try and take down Elmo? Why yes, yes it does.
Earlier this week, fans of “Sesame Street” were horrified to learn that the longtime voice behind Elmo, Kevin Clash, allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old when he was 45, which is bad because that is illegal and also disturbing coming from a man who portrays a beloved character on a beloved children’s TV series.
Clash took a leave of absence from the show to protect his privacy once the allegations went public. Sesame Street Workshop disciplined Clash for improper Internet usage because he was sending explicit e-mails to the accuser. (In the future, maybe don’t send things like “I can’t stop thinking about sex with you” over your company e-mail.) The company said that it investigated the underage sex claims over the summer and found them to be unsubstantiated.
Just a day after the allegations went public, the accuser recanted his allegation and admitted that his relationship with Clash was an “adult consensual relationship.”
Now — thanks to the Smoking Gun — we can put a face, a name and a shirtless torso to the man who tried to take down Elmo.
Aspiring actor and model Sheldon Stephens is allegedly the man who had the “adult consensual relationship” with clash — but whose lawyers allegedly tried to score a six-figure settlement with Clash’s lawyer before Stephens recanted, according to TMZ.
Andreozzi & Associates, who was representing Stephens in the case, has since dropped him as a client.
Stephens was once arrested for stealing $250,000 from a music manager at knifepoint, so he kinda seems like the type of guy that might try and extort Elmo.
Moral of the story: Good wins over evil every time, 60 percent of the time. Let the voice of Elmo have consensual adult relations in peace.