Kevin Clash

It’s official: the Hollywood elite has zero moral authority in attacking sexual abuse of minors that occurred decades ago in the Catholic Church. This weekend, the voters of the Daytime Emmy awards granted three Emmys to Clash, including the trophy for Outstanding Performer In a Children’s Series to Kevin Clash, recently accused of serial sexual pursuit of teenaged boys.

AP reported it, and recycled the claim: “Clash's lawyer has said that related lawsuits filed against the entertainer are without merit.” They quoted no one attacking the Emmy voters or Clash for their lack of morality.

"When the Daytime Emmy nominees were unveiled Wednesday, some of the more interesting noms went unreported," the Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes noted in a blog post yesterday afternoon. Interesting is quite the euphemism in the case of nominee Kevin Clash.

Clash, you may recall, is the Sesame Street puppeteer who resigned last November after allegations of a sexual relationship with a teenager, has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy award. So what exactly was the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) thinking? It's not like the nomination occurred before the lawsuit against Clash was made public.

Sesame Workshop announced on Tuesday that Kevin Clash, the long-time puppeteer of Elmo, has resigned. In its statement Tuesday, Sesame Workshop said "the controversy surrounding Kevin's personal life has become a distraction that none of us want," leading Clash to conclude "that he can no longer be effective in his job."

As the announcement was made, AP's Frazier Moore reported “a lawsuit was being filed in federal court in New York charging Clash with sexual abuse of a second youth. The lawsuit alleges that Cecil Singleton, then 15 and now an adult, was persuaded by Clash to meet for sexual encounters. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $5 million.”

Fox News reported the man who accused "Sesame Street" star puppeteer Kevin Clash "of having a sexual encounter with him when he was 16 has retracted his statements."

“He wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship,” the statement sent to Fox from his attorneys read. “He will have no further comment on the matter.” Over at Time.com, Bonnie Rochman explored “Why Kevin Clash’s Personal Life Troubles Parents of Elmo Fans.” She thought as a “children’s educator,” he needed to have a cleaner personal life than your stereotypical rock star:

Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo and star puppeteer for PBS, who the taxpayer-funded network promoted with a  documentary called Being Elmo -- "has taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street  in the wake of allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy" when he was 45,  reported TMZ.

Clash "adamantly denies" the allegations, but "has acknowledged to TMZ he had a relationship with the young man -- but insists it only took place AFTER the accuser was an adult." The accuser met with lawyers for Sesame Workshop. Clash 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."  TMZ added: