Wil Wheaton, 51, SLAMS ‘a**hole’ Larry David’s attack on Elmo and says it brought up memories of his own childhood abuse: ‘Appalling, Unforgivable, Despicable’

The former child actor Wil Wheaton unloaded on Larry David for throttling the iconic Muppet Elmo during a Today Show segment earlier this month.

In a blistering, lengthy Facebook tirade, the 51-year-old Star Trek: The Next Generation actor blasted the 76-year-old Curb Your Enthusiasm star for the ‘assault,’ which David gave a half-hearted apology for later in the show.

Wheaton, who has previously said he was a victim of years of child abuse, branded David an ‘a**hole’ in his post and said his attack on Elmo had brought to the surface distressing memories of his father physically abusing him when he was younger.

Social media users were swift to react to Wheaton’s post, with several fans defending his impassioned post, while others mocked him for being overly sensitive about the fake assault of a puppet.

Wheaton indicated that he assumed he would be triggered before ever glimpsing the clip. 

‘So I heard about Larry David assaulting Elmo on life television, but didn’t watch it until now, because I knew it would upset me,’ he began. ‘Holy s*** it’s even worse than I thought. What the f*** is wrong with that guy? Elmo is, like, the best friend to multiple generations of children. 

He added that, ‘In the Sesame Street universe, ELMO IS A CHILD,’ and that the Muppet focuses on helping others’ mental health issues.

‘And Larry F***ing David … did … that? And thought it was going to be … funny What?’ Wheaton continued, before calling the Seinfeld creator ‘a stupid, self-centered, tone deaf a**hole.’

Then Wheaton offered ‘full disclosure’ about his history of child abuse, which he blamed on his strong reaction.

‘When I was growing up, my dad would grab me by the shoulders and shake me while he screamed in my face. He choked me more than once,’ the actor said. ‘He was always out of control, always in a furious rage, and always terrifying. 

‘I’m a 51 year-old man and my heart is pounding right now, recalling how I felt when I was a little boy who loved Grover the way today’s kids love Elmo.’

Wheaton called David’s display an ‘appalling, unforgivable, despicable act’ and compared it directly to his own abuse.

‘Larry David, this was not okay, and your obviously insincere “apology” clearly communicates that you don’t get that,’ he wrote. 

The Stand By Me actor seemed to accuse David of being jealous of Elmo’s segment on The Today Show. 

‘First of all, you aren’t even in the segment, but you just decided to barge in and draw focus because … why? You couldn’t stand that a puppet brought people together in a meaningful way that you can’t?’ Wheaton continued. ‘You couldn’t stand that your appearance on national television to promote your wildly successful series was delayed for a few seconds while the adults talked about mental health? 

He accused the comedian of wanting ‘to manufacture a viral moment where everyone gets to see what an a**hole you are, so they’ll tune in and watch you portray an a**hole in the last season of your show that celebrates how great it is to be an a**hole without ever experiencing the consequences of being an a**hole?’

He reiterated that ‘Elmo and his dad were there to talk about empathy, love, kindness, and caring for each other,’ whereas, ‘Larry David was there to promote the final (thank god, maybe he’ll go away now) season of a television series.’

‘Like, read the room, d***head. It isn’t always about you being the center of attention,’ Wheaton seethed. ‘And understand what’s happening in the moment, f***o. Understand that there are larger things in the world than you and your garbage ego.’

Wheaton added that children could be watching the morning talk show who might be shocked and disturbed by David’s fake attack.

He even suggested that the Muppet had been a support for people dealing with the traumas of the ‘pandemic, daily mass shootings, the rise of fascism and everything associated with Trump’s violence and cruelty.’

‘Larry David strikes me as a person who mocks and belittles people who are vulnerable and sensitive, and enjoys being cruel, because he feels untouchable,’ he claimed.

After more directly comparing David to his allegedly abusive father, Wheaton wrapped up by saying he hoped the comedian would be just a ‘footnote’ in a future where people were more concerned with the legacy of ‘a Muppet.’

‘With one question, Elmo got lots and lots of people speaking openly and honestly about their mental health,’ he claimed, adding that, ‘Elmo probably saved lives and relationships by opening that conversation.’

‘A man who would belittle and mock that isn’t much of a man at all. Shame on you, Larry David,’ he concluded.

But Wheaton wasn’t done, and he returned in the comments to tell off those saying he ‘can’t take a joke’ or is ‘too sensitive.’

‘A lot of us who had the same visceral reaction to a grown man putting his hands on a child (Elmo is 4 years old) in anger, without consent, and then laughing about it all share an experience that you should be grateful you don’t share with us,’ he said, referring to the Muppet who is usually controlled and voiced by puppeteer Ryan Dillon, 35, though it’s unclear if he was the puppeteer during the Today Show segment.

Wheaton claimed that critics reducing ‘the whole thing to a puppet and a joke’ were ‘doing to us what the adults around us did when we were kids,’ he said, seeming to compare those who mocked his response to those enabling child abuse. 

‘And it hurts all over again,’ he added.

Several fans defended Wheaton on X (formerly Twitter).

One user admitted they didn’t share his reaction, but said they could ’empathize’ with him due to ‘traumatic events in his own past that were triggered.

‘If you think Wil Wheaton was overreacting talking about his PTSD being triggered then please unfollow me,’ wrote another user who signed their post as ‘someone who also suffers from PTSD.’

Another fan suggested that the mockery of Wheaton’s post indicated that ‘we need a huge overhaul on mental health in this country.’

Others were more evenhanded, such as one commentator who said David ‘did nothing wrong’ and noted that they had ‘always disliked’ Wheaton. Although they said his reaction was ‘not rational,’ they thought it was ‘understandable and forgivable given the abuse he suffered as a child.’ 

Another person complained, ‘Bro came out of nowhere trying to hurt my boy Elmo.’ 

One particularly heated response came from a user who wrote, ‘This is child abuse,’ though David had throttled a puppet with an adult man operating and voicing it. 

But others found Wheaton’s post disturbingly childish, including one person who noted Wheaton’s age and referenced his two adult children.

‘He didn’t mention his own kids anywhere in the post. What is he, a 51 year old man, doing watching Sesame Street?’ they wrote. ‘I have a kid and I didn’t even know Sesame Street was still on TV.’

Another person claimed it was ‘tyrannical and controlling’ to expect David to make sure he could ‘”empathize” with Wil Wheaton (who he probably doesn’t even know) before he does something funny.’

‘Do you want your future actions controlled by a stranger you don’t even know?’ they mused. 

The journalist and pundit Glenn Greenwald claimed he briefly thought Wheaton’s post was satire, but he ‘didn’t want it to end’ once he realized it was serious.

‘How did our culture degrade to the point where may people in prominent positions genuinely believe that a journalist can be guilty of the crime of “treason” for interviewing a foreign leader, and where slapping a puppet is treated like criminal assault?’ he continued, seemingly referencing right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Following his fake assault of Elmo, the Today Show hosts got David to issue an apology during his own segment, in which he talked about the twelfth and final season of his acclaimed HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, which began back in 1999 with a special on the network that expanded into the series the following year.

When Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb asked David to apologize to Elmo, ‘from the heart,’ he responded, ‘from where!?’

‘What organ are you talking about?’ joked the famous curmudgeon.

However, he looked into the camera and said, ‘Elmo, I just want to apologize.’

Elmo said he accepted David’s apology while Louie added that it was ‘very big’ of him.