Katy Perry did a duet with Sesame Street character Elmo but you won't get to see it on television. Too much cleavage, determined the folks at Sesame Workshop.
Obviously, a company selling programming that cares about kids outside keeping them glued to television screens is refreshing and bordering on the miraculous, so kudos to them for that.
But the negative aspect is that modern culture is torn between agonizing over female empowerment and female objectification so basically Sesame Street was not going to win, since she is wearing a Katy Perry outfit and those have cleavage. But the video is cute, there isn't anything remotely sexual about it and I don't think Katy Perry with Elmo is going to damage a young girls psyche, yet I recognize it's tough being a content exec in a hyper-sensitive culture.
Sesame Workshop's statement says:
Sesame Street has a long history of working with celebrities across all genres, including athletes, actors, musicians and artists. Sesame Street has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult. We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or care-giver. We also value our viewer’s opinions and particularly those of parents. In light of the feedback we’ve received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on You Tube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube.
And so here it is:
