Elmo's X account gets hacked, posts antisemitic and racist messages

The posts called for violence against Jews, insulted President Donald Trump and demanded the release of government files on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged clientele

Hackers broke into the X account of Sesame Street character Elmo and posted antisemitic and racist messages, the makers of the children's TV show said on Monday (July 14, 2025).

The Sunday (July 13, 2025) posts, which have been deleted, called for violence against Jews, insulted President Donald Trump and demanded the release of government files on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged clientele.

Elmo, a cheerful red Muppet, has more than 6,50,000 followers on X.

"Elmo's X account was briefly compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts," Sesame Workshop said in a statement, adding the account has since been secured.

X came under scrutiny last week when the account of the Grok chatbot developed by billionaire Elon Musk's company xAI produced content with antisemitic tropes. The posts were subsequently removed and called "inappropriate" by Grok's X account.

Since Mr. Musk bought what was then known as Twitter in 2022, he has cut back on moderation. Extremist content has increased, causing some advertisers to pull away from the platform.