An unknown hacker briefly seized control of Sesame Street character Elmo’s verified X account late Sunday, broadcasting antisemitic slurs, calls for violence against Jews and profane references to former President Donald Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to the page’s roughly 650,000 followers. The posts were deleted and normal activity restored within about an hour. “Elmo’s X account was briefly compromised yesterday by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. The account has since been secured,” Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the children’s franchise, said Monday. The organisation added that it is working to regain full administrative control and strengthen security across its social-media properties. The Anti-Defamation League condemned the incident, and cybersecurity experts said the takeover highlights how trusted children’s brands can be weaponised to spread extremist content. X, owned by Elon Musk, has not responded to questions about how the intrusion occurred or whether additional safeguards will be introduced. The breach comes days after X’s Grok chatbot drew criticism for generating antisemitic remarks, underscoring continuing scrutiny of the platform’s content-moderation and security practices. Sesame Workshop said it is cooperating with investigators to identify the attacker and prevent future incidents.