In a shocking incident that left parents and fans horrified, the official X account of Elmo, the beloved red monster from Sesame Street, was hacked on Sunday, July 13, 2025, and used to spread a series of racist and antisemitic messages.
The breach of the character’s verified account, which boasts more than 650,000 followers, represents a disturbing violation of a platform typically associated with kindness and childhood innocence.
The unauthorized access occurred over the weekend when an unknown hacker gained control of Elmo’s X account and posted approximately six highly offensive messages.
The posts, which starkly contradicted Elmo’s usual wholesome content, included violent antisemitic rhetoric calling for harm against Jewish people and conspiracy theories about President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
According to screenshots circulated online before the posts were deleted, the hacker wrote messages such as “Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE” and falsely claimed that Trump was “Netanyahu’s puppet because he is in the Epstein files”.
The posts also demanded the release of the controversial Epstein files and included explicit language entirely inappropriate for children’s characters.
Particularly disturbing was how the hacker maintained Elmo’s characteristic third-person speaking style while delivering these hateful messages, creating a jarring contrast between the beloved character’s innocent persona and the vile content being shared.
Swift Response from Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, quickly responded to the breach with a strongly worded statement condemning the hack.
“Elmo’s X account was briefly compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts,” a spokesperson told multiple news outlets.
The organization emphasized that they were “working to restore full control of the account” and confirmed that the account had since been secured.
The posts were removed shortly after appearing on Sunday afternoon, though not before screenshots had been widely shared across social media platforms. As of Monday morning, the account had returned to its normal state, with the most recent legitimate post being from July 12, featuring Elmo wishing his friend Tango a “Happy Gotcha Day”.
The hack sent shockwaves through the online community, particularly affecting users who had come to rely on Elmo’s account as a source of positivity and mental health support.
This incident occurred against a backdrop of increasing concerns about hate speech and security on X under Elon Musk’s ownership. The hack came just one week after Musk’s AI chatbot Grok generated antisemitic content, including posts praising Adolf Hitler, which the company later apologized for.
Research has shown that hate speech on X increased by approximately 50% in the months following Musk’s 2022 acquisition of the platform.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the Elmo hack as “appalling,” stating that “it’s shocking that Elmo’s official account, recognized for promoting kindness, was hacked solely to disseminate violent antisemitism”.
The organization emphasized that such incidents contribute to the normalization of anti-Jewish hatred both online and offline.
By Monday, July 14, Sesame Workshop had successfully regained control of the account, and all offensive content had been removed. The organization’s swift response and clear condemnation of the hack helped reassure fans that the messages did not represent the values of Sesame Street or its characters.
The Elmo hack serves as a stark reminder that in today’s digital landscape, no account is immune to malicious attacks, and the responsibility for protecting online spaces extends beyond individual users to the platforms themselves.
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