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Elmo Straight Up Banned Jimmy Fallon from Sesame Street, But the Two Remain Friends
Before Elmo fell out with Rocco (and broke the Internet by asking everyone how they're doing), he had a brief and hilarious spat with Jimmy Fallon—watch the clip now.
Elmo has delighted generations of kids on Sesame Street. In hundreds of episodes, the adorable red Muppet—who has remained pre-school age for nigh on 30 years—has shared his young audience's childlike wonder and curious approach to the world.
The thing is, though, Elmo can also be a little salty sometimes.
Look no further than a recently-resurfaced clip from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, in which Elmo loses it on Jimmy Fallon and (jokingly?) bans him from Sesame Street. This was before the time Elmo's legendary feud with a pet rock named Rocco made the rounds back in 2022, surprising and delighting those who'd never seen Elmo's capacity for irritation bordering on anger.
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In January 2024, Elmo made headlines for the overwhelming response to a simple question posed on his social media accounts, "Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?" (thousands replied to share that they've been better). But, as the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon clip reminds us once more, Elmo is no stranger to the full spectrum of human Muppet emotions himself.
Watch Elmo ban Jimmy Fallon from Sesame Street after they squabble here.
Elmo lost it on Jimmy Fallon after forgetting his own song lyrics
In a moment that's as funny as it is super cute, Elmo paid a visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2011. Fallon asked Elmo to sing one of his own songs, "Go Before You Go."
"Elmo's trying to remember it," he said, as The Roots drummer Questlove kicked up a beat to get them going. After vamping for a minute, Elmo admitted he only knows the chorus.
"That was embarrassing," Elmo growled, hilariously frustrated with himself. "If anyone should remember it, Elmo should."
"No, Elmo should've come to rehearsal," Fallon deadpanned. And that's when Elmo realizes he's just about had it.
First, Elmo started to storm off set, as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Host convinced him to come back.
"DON'T touch Elmo!" the Muppet said, shaking off Fallon's hand. "Elmo forgot! It was a long time ago."
"It's no big deal Elmo, we'll just take that out," Fallon told him, as Elmo scolded him for "telling everybody on national television that Elmo didn't know the song."
"You're not coming to Sesame Street anymore!" Elmo said, smacking Fallon's shoulder and turning to his house band. "The Roots, you can come anytime." Three-and-a-half year olds can get pretty testy when they miss their nap!
"Elmo, you're being a little bit of a brat," Fallon said, as the Muppet's tantrum continued. "Are you sorry?"
"No," Elmo fumed, staring at the ground.
Fortunately, the two have made up since then, with Elmo going on to appear on The Tonight Show three times, most recently in 2016. And Fallon has returned the favor.
Jimmy Fallon guest-starred on Elmo's talk show, too
Fallon was a guest on Elmo's own talk show, the two-season The Not-Too-Late-Show on HBO Max (the premise was that Elmo hosts a star-studded show right before his bedtime routine).
In fact, he was the very first guest, along with musical guest Kacey Musgraves, who delivered a stunning rendition of "Rubber Duckie."
In 2019, Fallon and The Roots' Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter helped Elmo and the gang celebrate Sesame Street's 50th anniversary with a special rap—watch that below.
