Hackers broke into the X account of Sesame Street character Elmo and posted anti-Semitic and racist messages, the makers of the children's TV show said.
The Sunday posts, which have been deleted, also 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 650,000 followers on X.
"Elmo's X account was briefly compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including anti-Semitic and racist posts," Sesame Workshop said in a statement, adding the account has since been secured.
On Sunday, Elmo's X account was briefly hacked by an outside party, in spite of the security measures in place.
— Elmo (@elmo) July 15, 2025
We strongly condemn the abhorrent antisemitic and racist content, and the account has since been secured.
These posts in no way reflect the values of Sesame Workshop… pic.twitter.com/MaTqsjQ81V
X came under scrutiny last week when the account of the Grok chatbot developed by billionaire Elon Musk's company xAI produced content with anti-Semitic tropes.
The posts were subsequently removed and called "inappropriate" by Grok's Xaccount.
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.
