12 'Sesame Street' Scandals That Have Plagued The Show's History

In the 80s, the show was forced to address Mr. Hooper's death.

When actor Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper, died in 1982, "Sesame Street" writers had a challenging task on their hands. During a Thanksgiving Day episode in 1983, adult characters on the show explained death to Big Bird, who didn't understand why Mr. Hopper wasn't coming back.

While the topic was addressed in a sensitive manner, many parents believed their children were still too young to learn about it.

In 1969, "Sesame Street" was aimed toward an older audience and was labeled "Adult Only."

Early episodes of "Sesame Street" showed Cookie Monster smoking a pipe and an early green incarnation of Grover partaking in civil disobedience with hippies.

According to an NPR interview with The Week's Dale Hrabi in 2009, original episodes from 1969 to the early '70s are labeled "adult only" upon purchase and were meant to reflect the era.

In the 1970s, African American muppet Roosevelt Franklin caused controversy among parents.

Franklin appeared on "Sesame Street" from 1970-1975 before being removed from the show after allegations that he promoted negative stereotypes of black children. While he was often shown teaching about Africa and values, his rowdy nature and after-school-detention-looking class angered parents.

Bert and Ernie's sexual orientation has always been questionable.

For years, rumors circulated about Bert and Ernie being more than roommates. In 1993, "Sesame Street's" producers finally put the rumors to rest, saying Bert and Ernie "do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future.

Related: Voice of Elmo Resigns As Second Underage Sex Accuser Comes Forward

Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends."

In 2002, matters once again became complicated when a documentary spoof, titled "Ernest and Bertram," showed two male puppets who became heated lovers.  "Sesame Street" threatened to sue Peter Spears, director of the eight minute movie.

After 9/11, Bert was featured in a placard next to Bin Laden.

Poor Bert just can't get a break. In 2001, only weeks after the September 11 attacks, a placard featuring Bert next to Osama Bin Laden was circulated during a Bangladeshi rally.

The image made it appear as if Bert had joined the Taliban. Rally members got the image from the now-defunct website "Bert is Evil," that showed Bert as the criminal behind such acts as JFK's assassination.
Brad Fitzgerald, who created the now-infamous picture, made the Bin Laden-Bert image to joke that the muppet had involvement with various acts of terrorism.

According to ABC News, "a Bangladeshi poster shop didn't realize the image was a joke when they printed up 2,000 posters for Anti-American protesters."
Needless to say, "Sesame Street" was not happy about this mix-up.

In 2002, Kami joined the cast as the world's first HIV-positive puppet.

In 2002, "Sesame Street's" South African edition created Kami, an HIV-positive muppet, whose mother died of AIDS. Critics immediately sent angry letter to producers, saying the show was promoting homosexuality and prematurely educated children on the disease.

And to balance out Cookie Monster, 2005 brought Veggie Monster.

After years of chanting "me want cookie," Cookie Monster was given a new diet in 2005: fruits and vegetables. With child obesity on the rise in the U.S., "Sesame Street" was encouraged to help educate kids about healthy eating. The show came out with the song "A Cookie is a Sometime Food" to teach kids that cookies shouldn't be eaten all the time.

In 2006, Mahboub the Arab puppet joined the cast and angered Israealis.

In 2006, the Israeli version of Sesame Street introduced an Arab muppet, Mahboub, to teach children the importance of tolerance and acceptance. The five-year-old character plays the drums and speaks Hebrew and Arabic. Many Israelis were not happy with this new character.

Tensions have long existed in Israel between the Jewish and Arab communities, where Arabs make up about one-fifth of the population but complain about being treated as inferior to the rest of the country's citizens.

In 2009, Grouchy News Network (GNN) and Pox News mocked CNN and Fox.

In 2009, "Sesame Street" aired an episode where it appeared to be mocking Fox News. In the segment, Oscar the Grouch is the host of a news program on GNN, the Grouchy News Network. In the middle of his newscast, Oscar gets a call from a viewer who complains about GNN's coverage. "From now on I am watching Pox News. Now there is a trashy news show," the muppet character says.

According to The Week, after Fox complained, a PBS representative said that although the parody was "too good to resist, it should have been resisted."

Then in 2010, Katy Perry's guest appearance was cut due to her semi-revealing dress.

In September 2010, "Sesame Street" announced that it would not air a music video duet of Elmo and Katy Perry. The music video, a revised version of Perry's hit "Hot 'N Cold," was released online, instantly sparking a controversy over the appropriateness of Perry's cleavage-showing outfit.

The show released the following statement: " 'Sesame Street' has a long history of working with celebrities across all genres, including athletes, actors, musicians and artists. 'Sesame Street' has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult. We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or caregiver. ...In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video, which was released on YouTube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of 'Sesame Street,' which is aimed at preschoolers."

In response to her segment being cut, Perry tweeted, "Wow, looks like my play date with Elmo has been cut short!"

Related: Man Who Accused Elmo Puppeteer of Underage Sex ID'd As Aspiring Model with Criminal Past

In 2011, the 'Sesame Street' YouTube channel was hacked - and swapped with porn.

On October 16, 2011, visitors to "Sesame Street's" YouTube channel were in for a big surprise. The channel was hacked and replaced with porn. YouTube quickly fixed the problem, but not before some of the page's 148,000 subscribers viewed the offending material.

"We apologize for any inconvenience our audience may have experienced on our Sesame Street YouTube channel," Sesame Workshop said in a statement. "Our channel was compromised and we worked with YouTube/Google to restore our original content. We always strive to provide age-appropriate content for our viewers."