For most of the world who grew up watching Sesame Street, Elmo is a lovable and, importantly, uncontroversial figure with a (somewhat annoying) laugh. For New Yorkers, the Muppet’s latest tweet makes him a traitor.
The New York Knicks have earned a spot in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, a feat that has turned the city upside down with excitement. But as Game 1 approached on June 3—with the subway entrance by the team’s home court at Madison Square Garden painted orange and blue—an unexpected character chimed in with a nod to sportsmanship that Knicks fans didn’t appreciate coming from a fellow New Yorker.
“Elmo hopes both teams have fun!” he posted to his official X account.
Unsurprisingly, New Yorkers did not treat Elmo’s bipartisan approach with kindness.
“Both teams? Elmo why you acting like you ain’t from the Bronx,” a user responded on X. The official Knicks Wall account also chimed in, saying, “PICK A SIDE COWARD.”
Wendy’s, a brand account known for its irreverent use of social media, piled on by telling Elmo “NOT NOW.”
Ahead of Game 2 on June 5, even the NYC Department of Transportation took a stance, posting, “don’t make us take this down, bro,” along with a photo of the inauguration of a Sesame Street sign in uptown Manhattan.
But these were among the nicer comments of the bunch, with many users turning to more explicit language to get the character in line.
“No Elmo let’s go fucking knicks you’re from fucking New York,” one user said.
Not Elmo’s first rodeo
While the attention to the post was unexpected, this is not Elmo’s first viral moment on X. Back in 2024, the Muppet asked the platform’s users about their feelings.
“Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” he posted, fueling a flurry of more than 18,000 replies, with users not only sharing their emotions but often trauma dumping on the character and the internet.
The post quickly became a national therapy session, something the social media manager behind the account couldn’t have imagined.
Now going viral once again, Elmo’s account has walked back the character’s original comments—sort of.
“KNICKS that last message! Elmo didn’t mean to SPUR you on!” he posted on June 4, a nod to the home team and their opponent, the San Antonio Spurs.
While Elmo is yet to officially endorse the NYC-based team, some users are asking people to take a step back from the beef. One user said, “everyone needs to stop being mean to elmo he knows the knicks are gonna win.”