The latest round of emails released by Wikileaks has revealed that Sesame Street icon Cookie Monster receives a salary from Nabisco, manufacturers of some of America’s most popular cookie brands such as Oreo and Chips Ahoy! The revelation has thrown into question the integrity of one of America’s most cherished institutions.
In the leaked emails from 2014, Nabisco executive Charles Honeycutt informed the Cookie Monster’s manager, Yoxie Cointel, that a regular monthly payment would have to be delayed because of a clerical accounting error. In his reply, Cointel mentions that the delayed payments had become “a pattern” and that if Nabisco didn’t fix the issue, Monster was prepared to “take [his] talents elsewhere.”
At the bottom of the email, Cointel doubled down on his threat, attaching an image of the Krispy Kreme logo with the caption “Me sick of cookies.”
The initial statement from PBS, which has broadcasted “Sesame Street” since 1970, said that the matter is being investigated internally. HBO, which signed a landmark deal to air and stream the program last year, made a similar statement.
“The emails are shocking to read,” said media analyst Jennica Flyntt. “It’s forced a lot of people to rethink our feelings toward the show, and toward Cookie Monster’s cookie advocacy. We never doubted that his intentions were anything but good, until now.”
While Cookie Monster has advocated for other foods in the past, such as oatmeal cookies and vegetables, classic chocolate chip cookies have always been his favorite snack. Now, some are starting to wonder if that’s really true.
Monster’s publicist, Shayna Bupkiss, said that the speculation is baseless and that the man in blue loves cookies as much as he says he does.
“This is just the reality of the industry,” Bupkiss said. “What seems shady to the public is actually just commonplace. It’s important to have strong working relationships. What we’re talking about here is just making sure that’s always the case.”
While Wikileaks has given no indication of how they came to possess these emails, sources with knowledge of the situation say that LeVar Burton was definitely involved.
