Image Credit: Yahoo News
I heard bits and pieces of this story late Sunday night as I was getting ready for bed. As with any news story involving sex, by Monday morning it had circulated across the web. Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, who is 52 years of age, is now caught in a sex scandal which involves a boy who was 16 at the time. The now 23 year old man claims that he was in sexual relationship with Mr. Clash 7 years ago. He took his claim to Sesame Street and after they investigated the matter they found his claims were unsubstantiated. What they did find was an e-mail trail shared between Mr. Clash and his lover boy but the e-mail didn’t validate any of the allegations made. As with anyone who’s looking for money, he then hired one of the attorneys who happened to represent one of Jerry Sandusky victims during the Penn State sex abuse scandal. He admits to having sexual relations with the guy, but states at the time he was an adult. The Elmo puppeteer was granted a leave of absence after stating his reputation is at stake and that he was deeply saddened by the allegations.
Now first I’ll say this, when stories like this break, most of the time it’s all about money. Of course I don’t know all the facts, but this has jilted ex-lover written all over it. As a sixteen year old, I can remember lying about my age and saying that I was 18. When I was 18, I can remember lying saying I was 21. So do I think it’s a possibility that guy lied about his age, yes I do. I also would like to think that the world is not full of stupid people who take chances when they have so much to lose. Elmo was a marginal character before he took the puppet and brought him to the spotlight. After 15 years as Elmo, I would think that this man would know the risk involved with having sex with a minor and protect his career and reputation.
Why did lover boy wait 7 years and then decide to say something? Where were his parents when he was 16 and out having sex with this man? I’m not saying that Mr. Clash did anything wrong if the man was indeed an adult, but I am saying that after a certain age we should be a little bit more selective with the company that we keep. There was no relationship here and what I do know is that everyone is not equipped with the “it’s just sex” mentality. As far as I know, Mr. Clash wasn’t openly gay and I can see this being a hot ass mess if he didn’t share the same feelings as lover boy.
The lesson I got from this is, when you deal with people on a romantic level make sure you deal with someone who has just as much to lose as you. Because all is takes is one bad person who doesn’t have shit to lose to turn your world upside down. It doesn’t matter if Mr. Clash is innocent because the damage is already done. When people read the media stories, the story that will stick in their heads is Elmo is gay and has sex with minors. People will make a mockery out of this and will always associate Elmo with this story although he is a fictional character. I never thought I would see the day when Elmo and Sex is used in the same sentence. I would love to see how Sesame Street’s PR team handles this. This certainly won’t stop me from playing with Elmo toys every time I walk down the toy aisle in Target.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this?
