It’s been a rough week for Elmo — but T-Pain is coming to his defense.
via People:
It all started when the beloved Sesame Street character did a simple social media check-in to see how everyone was doing on Monday. His now-viral post received a slew of unexpected responses, with hundreds of respondents telling him how hard life has been for them.
“Not great, Elmo. Not great,” one person tweeted.
On Friday, Elmo and his father Louie stopped by the Today show to discuss the many distressing messages he received after his earnest question.
While speaking to Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin about the tweets and wellbeing resources offered by Sesame Street, he was suddenly physically attacked by comedian Larry David, who was also a guest on the morning show.
The 76-year-old had left another section of the live television set to interrupt Elmo’s segment and rough the muppet up.
“Oh, my God,” a stunned Melvin, 44, said.
“Mr. Larry, Elmo liked you before,” the fuzzy red muppet responded after having his face grabbed by the Curb Your Enthusiasm star. His father Louie added, “Ask permission before you touch people.”
After the televised attack, T-Pain, 39, showed his support for the beloved Sesame Street star.
“I know I didn’t just see my mans @elmo assaulted on live TV,” the “Buy U a Drank” singer tweeted.
Over on his Instagram Story, he also shared a repost of the tweet, adding, “@Elmo say the word” — further confirming his alliance to the puppet.
The two-time Grammy winner was also one of the original X (formerly known as Twitter) users who responded to Elmo’s initial inquiry on Monday.
“Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” the children’s character asked on the social networking platform.
“I’m just looking for somebody to talk to and show me some love if you know what I mean,” the “Bartender” singer said, quoting his own lyrics from the 2007 hit.
However, T-Pain may be pleased to know that Elmo did receive an apology from David after the unprovoked altercation.
“Larry, you’ve gone too far this time,” Guthrie, 52, said.
“Somebody had to do it!” David replied. “Is anybody really surprised?” Al Roker quipped as they all talked over one another, laughing, but still surprised by the situation.
After multiple apology requests from those on set, David gave in: “Elmo, I just want to apologize.”
“Thank you, Larry,” Elmo said. “Elmo accepts your apology, Larry.”
Elmo previously promised to do more routine check-in’s to make sure people are doing okay after the outpour of responses.
“Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you. #EmotionalWellBeing,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
Larry needs to learn to keep his hands to hisself. Elmo didn’t deserve that.
