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Numerous publications have reported that Maryland native Kevin Clash has stepped down from his position as the puppeteer and voice of Elmo on Sesame Street. Here’s the statement released by Sesame Workshop:

“Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential. Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.

Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street.”

In the midst of Clash’s absence from the show there has been replacement puppeteers handling Elmo responsibilities  but no permanent replacement has been named. This controversy has also exposed Clash’s sexual preference in which he mentioned he wasn’t ashamed of his sexuality but he felt that it was a private matter. SOURCE