Five Times Elmo Was Kind of a Dick

Elmo might be the kindest, cutest, most ticklish monster on Sesame Street, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a jerk every once in a while. Of course, Elmo’s most famously combative relationship is with Rocco, his friend Zoe’s pet rock. Zoe often treats Rocco like an actual pet, which infuriates Elmo and has caused the Elmo-Rocco rivalry to go viral. Yet Rocco isn’t the only one to turn Elmo’s face (more) red. Here are five other times Elmo was kind of a dick…

5 That Time He Stole Kermit’s Microphone

In his earliest appearances back in the 1980s, Elmo was a shaggier, sassier Muppet than he is today. In one segment, news reporter Kermit the Frog interrupted the show for breaking news about new games people were developing. Elmo then happened by and Kermit asked him if he had any ideas for games. Elmo started off by making fun of how Kermit talks, before saying he wanted to play “reporter” and fighting Kermit for his microphone.

4 That Time Zoe Stole His Joke

While Rocco represents Elmo’s most famous rift with Zoe, that isn’t the only subject the two have fought over. On one episode of Sesame Street, Elmo was telling several people a joke about “front” and “back.” When he told Zoe, she loved the joke so much she went around telling other people, which meant Elmo didn’t get a chance to tell them himself. Eventually, Elmo confronted Zoe about her joke thievery — a high, high crime — and she apologized.

3 That Time He Didn’t Know How Music Works

Another of Elmo’s dearest friends is Telly, yet they’ve gotten into spats as well. When Telly got a new tuba, he only knew how to play one song, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Telly asked Elmo to sing along as he played, but Elmo wanted to sing the alphabet song and refused to have any part of Telly’s song choice. He even insisted on singing the alphabet song at the same time Telly played “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Eventually Elmo came around, but not before screaming in Telly’s face about it.

2 That Time Oscar Taught Him to Be a Grouch

Back in 1991, Elmo wanted to know what it would be like to be a Grouch for a day, so he asked Oscar for some Grouch lessons. Oscar begrudgingly agreed, but then proceeded to do too good of a job. Before long, Elmo was constantly shouting at Oscar to “Go away,” and he refused to let Oscar back into his own trash can.

1 That Time He Kicked Jimmy Fallon Off Sesame Street

Fallon and Elmo have gotten into it a couple of times, but the most notable back-and-forth was when Elmo flubbed a line singing a song on The Tonight Show and Fallon told Elmo, “(You) should have come to rehearsal.” Elmo snapped and nearly walked off the show, telling Fallon to “Get away from Elmo!” and “Don’t touch Elmo!” Elmo only walked back onstage to tell Fallon, “You’re not coming to Sesame Street anymore!”