Beloved “Sesame Street” character Elmo shared a message of empathy and urged people to check in on their friends Thursday on NBC's "TODAY" show before comedian Larry David, who was also a guest, grabbed his red Muppet face.
Elmo appeared Thursday on "TODAY" with his father, Louie, to stress the importance of emotional wellness after his seemingly lighthearted “How is everybody doing?” tweet turned into an online trauma dump.
At the end of the segment, David, who appeared on the show afterward, jokingly jostled Elmo.
Elmo quipped back, “Mr. Larry, Elmo liked you before!” adding, “Sit down on the couch and let’s talk about how you’re feeling.”
David later apologized, saying: “Elmo, I just want to apologize. ... I’m really sorry.”
"It's important to remember that we all have a lot of feelings, and that’s OK," the furry red character said earlier on the show. "It’s good to know what feeling you’re having, and if you’re feeling sad or worried or confused, then you have to talk to someone that you love and trust, and it’s good to talk about it."
The character said he was feeling "really happy" and "glad" that he got to talk to so many people "and see how they’re doing” as his tweet clocked nearly 200 million views and over 16,000 replies.
On Monday, Elmo's X account asked a seemingly innocent question: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” — and the tweet was met with a deluge of hilarious (and exhausted) responses. “Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here,” a user replied. Another wrote: “Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come.” Another wrote: "Elmo girl… I’m having a quarter life crisis right now... I’m mentally burnt out and I have a lifetime of working to go.”
Rapper T-Pain responded with a reference to one of his own lyrics, saying: "I’m just looking for somebody to talk to and show me some love if you know what I mean."
In a follow-up post, Elmo wrote: “Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you #EmotionalWellBeing.”
President Joe Biden responded to that tweet, stressing: "Our friend Elmo is right: We have to be there for each other ... "
Elmo's father, Louie, said on the show: “Emotional well-being, that’s kind of the key. It’s as important as your physical health."
"Learning what feelings you have inside, how to name them and healthy ways to express them, that’s just part of living. Nowadays, you got to get it out,” he added.
Elmo added, "It’s very important to check on your friends and see how they’re doing, because maybe they’re not OK, or maybe they are, but it’s good to talk about it."