Elmo won’t be getting unemployment benefits just yet.
After President Donald Trump signed an executive order slashing funding to PBS and NPR, which could jeopardize the future of Sesame Street, a viral LinkedIn post shared that Elmo was out of a job. However, it was simply a parody account, Sesame Workshop confirmed to Deadline May 8.
“Unfortunately, Elmo was recently laid off because of the federal budget cuts,” the now-deleted post circulating on social media began. “Elmo worked at Sesame Street for 45 years. Elmo is sad. Elmo loved his time at Sesame Street.”
The fake Elmo also expressed how much he is “going to miss” his friends Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Abby, Grover and Count because they “made Elmo’s day so much better.”
Like any unemployed person on the networking app, the message went on to highlight Elmo’s skills like being able to “recognize the letter E, spell his name, feel empathy, sing ‘Elmo’s Song’ and ask how you are doing.”
The post also urged users to reach out to their “local congressperson to save Public Media.”