The man who voices popular Sesame Street puppet Elmo has taken leave amid allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy, reports TMZ.
Kevin Clash, 52, has taken a leave of absence from the popular children’s show after the programme’s lawyers were contacted by a 23-year-old man who claims he had a sexual relationship with the puppeteer seven years ago, when he was aged 16.
TMZ said that Clash had admitted he had a relationship with the man, but only after the accuser was an adult and said the accusations were both false and defamatory.
Clash, who appeared in the acclaimed documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey earlier this year, said: ‘I had a relationship with [the accuser]. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.’
