'Sesame Street' Pulls Katy Perry After Her Elmo Duet Is Deemed Too Risque
Katy Perry, seen here arriving at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month, has hit a snag with her Sesame Street appearance. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Well, Katy Perry fans, you will not be seeing her duet with Elmo on Sesame Street.
Perry recorded a parody version of her song "Hot N Cold" and made a video with Elmo, but Sesame Workshop decided not to air the video on the show after its presence on YouTube sparked complaints from commenters who thought it was too risque -- apparently, based on the visible YouTube comments, because it contains too much cleavage.
Sesame Workshop's statement says:
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 care-giver. We also value our viewer’s opinions and particularly those of parents. In light of the feedback we’ve received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on You Tube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube.
While Sesame Workshop seems to have pulled the video from its official YouTube channel, it's still on Perry's channel.
On the one hand, it seems entirely predictable that this would draw complaints. On the other hand, it's nothing you wouldn't see at the beach or the pool. Well, except for the Muppet running around.