New York: The official X account of Elmo, the beloved red Muppet from the children’s television series Sesame Street, was hacked on Sunday 13 July, resulting in a series of offensive and antisemitic messages being posted.

The account, followed by more than 600,000 users, was temporarily taken over before access was restored and the posts removed.

The breach led to a number of deeply disturbing posts, including incitements to violence and conspiracy-laden accusations.

One of the messages read: “Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. F**K JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU'S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED.”

Another post stated: “RELEASE THE FILES @realDonaldTrump CHILD F**R.”

The posts falsely linked US President Donald Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, referencing long-standing internet conspiracy theories and calling for the release of alleged confidential files.

Trump and Epstein: Renewed focus amid hacking incident

This latest episode comes amid renewed scrutiny of the Epstein case. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has faced criticism after announcing that no Epstein “client list” exists.

This has drawn attention, especially given Trump’s previous pledge during his presidential campaign to release the full Epstein files.

Fresh interest in the case was also fuelled by Elon Musk, CEO of X and former Trump ally, who publicly accused Trump of being mentioned in the documents.

At a recent White House press conference, when asked about the matter, Mr Trump deflected by saying, “You still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Attorney General Pam Bondi also commented briefly, stating, “He committed suicide.”

Sesame Workshop responds

In response to the hack, a spokesperson for Sesame Workshop issued a statement confirming the breach and condemning the offensive content.

“Elmo's X account was compromised today by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,” the spokesperson said.

All offensive content has since been deleted, and control of the Elmo account has reportedly been regained. It is not yet clear who was responsible for the hack. No official statements regarding a law enforcement investigation have been released at the time of reporting.