Why the Internet Thought Elmo Was Laid Off From Sesame Street
Originally appeared on E! Online
Elmo won't be getting unemployment benefits just yet.
After President Donald Trump signed an executive order slashing funding to PBS and NPR, which could jeopardize the future of Sesame Street, a viral LinkedIn post shared that Elmo was out of a job. However, it was simply a parody account, Sesame Workshop confirmed to Deadline May 8.
"Unfortunately, Elmo was recently laid off because of the federal budget cuts," the now-deleted post circulating on social media began. "Elmo worked at Sesame Street for 45 years. Elmo is sad. Elmo loved his time at Sesame Street."
The fake Elmo also expressed how much he is "going to miss" his friends Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Abby, Grover and Count because they "made Elmo's day so much better."
Like any unemployed person on the networking app, the message went on to highlight Elmo's skills like being able to "recognize the letter E, spell his name, feel empathy, sing 'Elmo's Song' and ask how you are doing."
The post also urged users to reach out to their "local congressperson to save Public Media."
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E! News has reached out to Sesame Workshop for comment and has not yet heard back.
Following the LinkedIn update, a rep for the organization told Deadline in a May 8 statement, "Sesame Workshop and PBS have a shared commitment to using the power of public television to bring critical early learning to children across the country."
"For more than half a century, we have been proud to partner with them to bring Sesame Street's beloved characters and research-based curriculum to families nationwide," the message continued. "We remain firmly in support of the vital public investment that allows PBS to continue this important work."
Among the cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which backs NPR and PBS, included the termination of a federal grant program that provided $23 million for children's educational TV shows and games.
"Nearly every parent has raised their kids on public broadcasting's children's content," President and CEO of CPB Patricia Harrison said in a May 6 press release. "For the past 30 years, Ready To Learn-funded PBS KIDS content has produced measurable, real-world impacts on children's learning."
The message continued, "Ready To Learn has received strong bipartisan support from Congress for the last 30 years because of the programs' proven educational value in advancing early learning skills for all children."
For the Trump administration's part, the spokeswoman for the Department of Education Madi Biedermann told The New York Times that the administration would not fund "divisive ideologies and woke propaganda."
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