Sesame Street

Kevin Clash -- the man known as the voice of 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, TMZ has learned ... allegations Clash adamantly denies.

We've learned ... Sesame Workshop lawyers recently met with a 23-year-old man who claims he and Clash began a sexual relationship 7 years ago ... when he was 16 and Clash was 45.

Clash has acknowledged to TMZ he had a relationship with the young man -- but insists it only took place AFTER the accuser was an adult.

Sesame Workshop honchos tell TMZ ... "In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a young man who alleged that he had a relationship with Kevin Clash beginning when he was 16-years-old. This was a personal relationship, unrelated to the workplace. We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action."

Sesame Workshop officials acknowledge to TMZ they met with the accuser twice and had a number of other communications with him.

Sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... after the accuser's initial meeting with Sesame Street, the accuser felt Sesame Workshop's lawyers were trying to muzzle him ... so he lawyered up with Andreozzi and Associates -- the firm that represented one of the victims in the Jerry Sandusky child rape case.

On August 15, 2012 ... Andreozzi fired off a letter to Sesame, accusing the company of trying to "discredit the victim in order to protect its employee and the image of one of its most valuable characters," adding, "This approach places a greater value on a puppet than the well being of a young man."

Sesame Workshop officials tell TMZ ... they conducted a thorough investigation and determined the allegation of underage sex was unsubstantiated. They say they never tried to silence the accuser -- rather they asked for evidence supporting his claim, but he never produced it.

Officials also tell us they're suspicious because the accuser has an email which TMZ obtained -- purportedly sent to him by Clash, acknowledging they had the affair when he was 16. The officials say the accuser never mentioned such an email existed and they believe it's fraudulent.

But there were other emails between Clash and the accuser, and although they don't suggest there was underage sex, officials tell us they disciplined him for inappropriate use of company email.

Sesame Workshop honchos tell TMZ ... "Kevin insists that these allegations are false and defamatory and he has taken actions to protect his reputation. We have granted him a leave of absence to do so."

It is unclear why Clash wanted a leave of absence, since he denies the allegations of underage sex.

As for Clash, the voice actor tells TMZ, "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." Clash calls the accusations false and defamatory.

Finally Sesame Workshop officials tell TMZ the puppet is alive and well: "Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of Sesame Street to engage, educate and inspire children around the world."

Big Bird is safe for now -- at least according to Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton, who tells TMZ, he's confident PBS will survive after the election ... no matter who wins ... despite Mitt Romney threatening to cut funding to the network if he's elected.

Burton had just cast his vote in L.A. -- take a wild guess for who -- and we asked if he was optimistic about PBS' survival next year post-election (in light of Romney's infamous anti-Big Bird agenda).

Burton replied, "I am. In my heart, I absolutely am."

He said, "A lot depends on what happens this evening. But no matter what happens, PBS needs to reorganize its way of being effective."

Burton -- who has already expressed his outrage over Romney's anti-PBS stance -- added, "A lot of people need to acknowledge that the world is changing, and we got to change with it or get left behind."

DON'T MESS WITH PUPPETS ... was the battle cry at the Million Puppet March, where a thousand furry creatures got fisted and stormed Capitol Hill yesterday -- all to save PBS from government annihilation.

The event was organized after Mitt Romney infamously put Big Bird, "Sesame Street" and PBS on the chopping block in the first presidential debate ... claiming it wasn't worth the dough.

Adam Jones -- a puppet master who co-created a puppet show called "STUFT" -- spoke at the event and told TMZ, "The politicians don't understand how BIG an effect 'Sesame Street' and PBS has on the world. It inspires kids in 150 countries ... and destroying it would be devastating. Something had to be done."

Jones says the timing of the march -- mere days before Romney and Obama square off -- was crucial, saying, "Even though the puppets can't vote (yet) -- they might just sway the election."

This article is brought to you by the letter P ... as in Sesame Street is PISSED that Barack Obama used Big Bird in an anti-Romney attack ad without permission!

In case you haven't seen it ... Team Obama released the ad following the debate, in which they mock Mitt Romney's vow to cut off government funding to PBS. The ad portrays Big Bird as an enemy of America who towered over criminals like Bernie Madoff and Ken Lay.

But Big Bird isn't laughing ... and neither is Ernie, Bert, Oscar or Elmo (and that dude laughs at EVERYTHING) ... claiming Team Obama never asked for permission before using the Sesame Street character.

In fact, Sesame Workshop released a statement saying, "We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down."

SW also explains, "Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns."

Former "Reading Rainbow" host LeVar Burton is PISSED after Mitt Romney threatened to cut PBS funding last night -- telling TMZ, Romney would be stealing an invaluable educational resource from underprivileged children.

LeVar tells us, "I am personally outraged that any serious contender for the White House would target as part of his campaign the children of America in this fashion."

"Educators across the country, as well as millions of children and adults know that the programming on PBS has been responsible for significant improvements in education, literacy, math, science and life skills for generations of our children."

In case you missed the Presidential debate, Mitt promised to cut funding to PBS claiming it isn't an essential government expense -- but LeVar's firing back, claiming, "PBS represents .00016% of our nation's budget, yet this free resource benefits kids across all economic circumstances."

He adds, "Defunding PBS directly punishes the less fortunate by removing this trusted and extraordinary educational resource available to all."

Big Bird and the rest of the fine people at Sesame Street don't give two craps about Mitt Romney's politics -- but they're PUMPED he gave BB a shoutout during last night's Presidential debate ... despite the whole "Death to PBS" thing.

Sesame Street released a statement this morning following Romney's Big Bird reference, saying, "Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational organization. We do not comment on campaigns, but we're happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird."

In case you missed the debate last night, Romney mentioned Big Bird in reference to cutting PBS funding in order to save government money.

Romney said, "I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS ... I like PBS. I love Big Bird. But I'm not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it."

A rep for Sesame Street -- which has been a partner of PBS for 43 years -- says the show relies on PBS to distribute its commercial-free programming to children. In other words, no PBS ... no Sesame Street.

The CEO of PBS Paula Kerger told CNN this morning, "With the enormous problems facing the country, the fact that we are the focus is unbelievable to me. We are America’s biggest classroom, we touch children across the country in every home."

Forget waterboarding, Guantanamo Bay prisoners are now being tortured by BIG BIRD -- at least according to a new documentary released by Al Jazeera.

According to the doc -- called "Songs of War" -- detainees at the U.S. Naval base have been forced to wear headphones blaring Sesame Street music on repeat for hours or days on end ... to break their will (start at 2:00).

Award-winning Sesame Street composer Christopher Cerf tells Al Jazeera, "My first reaction was this just can't possibly be true ... "

Cerf says, "Of course I didn't really like the idea that I was helping break down prisoners, but it was much worse when I heard later that they were actually using the music in Guantanamo to do deep, long-term interrogations and obviously to inflict enough pain on prisoners so they would talk."

A Grammy-winning composer who worked on “Sesame Street” has been charged with making and distributing child pornography -- after allegedly handcuffing a 4-year-old girl, naked, and taking pictures.

59-year-old Fernando Rivas appeared in a South Carolina federal court yesterday -- where he pled "not guilty," according to the Charleston Post & Courier.

Rivas was arrested back in April -- after FBI agents raided the composer's home and, according to court docs, the feds claim they discovered a collection of photographs ... depicting a 4-year-old girl naked and “restrained in handcuffs and other bondage-type devices."

According to the report, cops say Rivas -- who also taught music at a local Charleston school -- admitted to officers that he took the pictures of the little girl and emailed them to two other sickos.

Sesame Street has finally responded to age-old rumors that Bert and Ernie are gay -- claiming the infamous room-sharing man-puppet odd couple are JUST FRIENDS ... and have no sexual orientation whatsoever.

A petition emerged online this week, urging the creators of Sesame Street to marry the two puppets -- but the Sesame Workshop just posted a message on its Facebook account, writing, "Bert and Ernie are best friends."

The statement continues, "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves."

"Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics ... they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

Grouch -- who agreed to come out of his resident garbage can for AOL's "You've Got" segment -- says he rooting for Colin FILTH for best actor and "Wasteland" for best doc.

He also picked Christian Bale for best supporting actor ... because "no one talks trash like him!!"

Katy shot a segment for the show -- which was supposed to air on New Year's Eve -- in which she sings a cleaned-up version of her song, "Hot N Cold" with Elmo.

The song made its way to YouTube Monday and racked up nearly a million views. But some parents started complaining her cleavage was too front and center. We've learned producers have decided not to air the song on the show.

Among the parental comments:

-- "You can practically see her t*ts. That's some wonderful children's programming."
-- "they're gonna have to rename it cleavage avenue"
-- "my kid wants milk now"

Fact is ... what looks like Katy's bare chest is actually covered in flesh-colored mesh that goes all the way to her neck.

First Wall St ... then Main St ... now the economy is taking its toll on Sesame St.

Sunny days could not sweep the clouds away ... and now the good people behind the world's greatest children's show have announced they must regretfully cut their workforce by 20% -- 67 positions in total.

The letters of the day are B and S.

When not asked to weigh in on the situation, Kermit the Frog responded by throwing up his hands, and screaming the following statement: