Update (2/2/2024 3:51 p.m. ET): Larry David gave a breakdown of what happened on Today later that night on Late Night With Seth Meyers. And Elmo was going on about mental health. And I had to listen to every word. And I was going, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! I don’t think I can take another second of this!’” he said, while mimicking Elmo’s tone at one point. ” And I got off my chair and I approached him. And I throttled him. There you go. I couldn’t take it.”
Even though he later apologized on Today, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star may not have been entirely sincere when he said he was sorry to Elmo. He doubled down on Late Night, and showed little regret. “And you know what? I would do it again,” he announced.
Original Story: Not everybody loves Elmo. Larry David took an unexpected turn when he attacked the muppet during an interview on the Today show on Thursday, February 1. As Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager prepared to turn it over to Al Roker for the weather, Larry, 76, ran up to Elmo and began grabbing him and hitting him, but it seems like they made up later.
Elmo was chatting with the Today hosts and they were about to get a weather update from Al, before the Seinfeld creator ran up and began attack Elmo. The hosts looked shocked and tried to get Larry to stop, before he stormed off. Elmos then called out after him. “Mr. Larry, Elmo liked you before!” he said. “Let’s get back on the couch and let’s talk about how you’re feeling.”
Jenna then called out to Larry from across the set. “Larry, you’ve gone too far this time,” she said. The comedian then had his own response, showing that he felt justified. “Somebody had to do it!” he said. Al admitted that he “didn’t see that coming.”
Later in the show, Jenna and Hoda asked the comedy icon if he had anything that he wanted to say to Elmo, and he did express that he was sorry (even if he was giggling a little through it). “Elmo, I just want to apologize,” Larry said.
The show then cut to Elmo, and the muppet said that he was willing to forgive Larry. “Elmo accepts your apology,” he said.
Elmo’s certainly had a bit of a tough break recently. While Larry was appearing to promote the final season of his beloved sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, Elmo was a guest mainly to talk about his viral tweet where he asked “How is everybody doing?” The response prompted tons of responses from people where they got real about the hard feelings they were going through. Even though a lot of the responses may have been negative feelings, the muppet showed that he was just happy to connect. “Elmo’s glad he got to talk to a lot of people and see how they’re doing,” he said. “It’s good to know what feeling you’re having, and if you’re feeling sad or worried or confused, then you can talk to someone that you love and trust.”
