Victoria Will/AP - Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind “Sesame Street’s” Elmo since the early ’80s, has resigned from the show after a second man filed a lawsuit Tuesday, accusing him of a sexual relationship with an underage male and seeking $5 million in damages.
Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind “Sesame Street’s” Elmo since the early ’80s, has resigned from the show after a second man filed a lawsuit Tuesday, accusing him of a sexual relationship with an underage male and seeking $5 million in damages.
News of the second allegation comes shortly after the first man — who had recanted his allegation that he was a minor when he first had sex with Clash — let it be known Monday that he wanted to recant his recantation and return a $125,000 settlement.
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Pulitzer Prize winner, Peabody recipient, Medal of Freedom honoree -- Lisa de Moraes is none of these, but she is an authority on the bad direction, over-acting, and muddled plot lines being played out in the TV industry's executive suites.
“I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart,” Clash said Tuesday in a statement.
“I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization,” he continued. “Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work ‘Sesame Street’ is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately.”
Sesame Workshop said Tuesday in a statement: “None of us [at Sesame Workshop], especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization. . . . Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job. . . .This is a sad day for ‘Sesame Street.’ ”
The second accuser is suing Clash, 52, in federal court, alleging that he had a sexual relationship with the puppeteer while he was a minor. Cecil Singleton seeks more than $5 million in damages, according to the Web site TMZ, which first obtained the court documents.
In the suit, Singleton, 24, said he “did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash’s sexual acts and conduct until 2012.”
Clash, a Baltimore area native, had been on leave from the lauded PBS children’s show since news broke this month about the first accuser.
NBC’s mighty return
NBC — once home to “St. Elsewhere” and “ER,” “Seinfeld” and “Cheers,” Johnny Carson and “ALF” — has finally clawed its way back to the land of the prime-time living after being buried for years in the program-to-the-margins underworld of former chief Jeff Zucker.
NBC will win its first November “sweep” in nine years among 18-to-49-year-old viewers, who are the currency of the TV business — jumping from a fourth-place finish last November.
The network decided to celebrate by putting NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt on the phone with reporters Tuesday as another full week’s ratings were issued, officially sealing the deal.
“We’re very happy this November — the first time we’ve been this happy in a long time,” Greenblatt began, well, happily.
Then some Debbie Downer on the call kicked off the Q&A period by asking Greenblatt whether he thought NBC would remain in first place in the first quarter of ’13, when “The Voice” and “Revolution” are on hiatus (and CBS has the Super Bowl and Fox has Nicki Minaj wreaking havoc on “American Idol”).
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