Elmo’s X Account Hacked: Sesame Street in Crisis Mode

Elmo’s X account was hacked with racist, antisemitic posts. Sesame Workshop removed them, secured the account, and launched a full cybersecurity review.

Elmo’s official X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked earlier this week, sending shockwaves through fans and digital safety experts alike. The breach unleashed a disturbing run of posts racist and antisemitic slurs, along with references to Jeffrey Epstein’s files starkly misaligned with the character’s family-friendly image. The offensive tweets stayed up for nearly 30 minutes before being deleted. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, quickly confirmed the Elmo hack and condemned the posts. X acted by removing the content, restricting the account, and launching a review of its cybersecurity protocols tied to the social media breach, reinforcing the need for child brand safety online.

Since then, Sesame Workshop moved quickly to contain the fallout. It regained access to the Elmo Twitter account and issued a public apology, stressing that the Elmo hack did not reflect its core values. A third-party cybersecurity firm is now investigating the social media breach, as internal teams work with X’s security staff to determine how the X account was hacked and whether deeper flaws still exist. The company is also taking wider steps strengthening login defenses, updating its protections, and applying tougher multi-factor authentication to all Sesame Street–linked profiles, reinforcing its commitment to child brand safety.

Moving forward, Sesame Workshop is weighing a broader public campaign to help rebuild trust with families and fans, while urging X to offer stronger commitments around content moderation and platform security. The breach may be resolved, but it points to something deeper: the rising threat facing family-safe corners of the web from more advanced cyberattacks. For many, Elmo Twitter stood for innocence. After the Elmo hack, it's clear no digital space is immune.