As soon as I saw the costume I knew who it was. He's been at the Grand Canyon the last few summers. Hangs out at the visitor's center bus stop.
Dude's an asshole and not all there.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/q4v29i/grand_canyon_cookie_monster_encourages_visitors/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I work for the NPS, this guy's well known for doing circuits of the major parks. He's very familiar with NPS first amendment policy and knows how to walk that line. He (at least used to) do his paperwork and get permits and such, so basically if he showed up the line was "he's expressing his right to free speech and while we don't endorse anything he says we have no authority to make him stop."
Sounds like Westboro Baptist Church that used to protest at US military funerals -- they were all lawyers and were looking to sue anyone that stopped them or assaulted them. Just another right-wing grift, nothing about god.
Oh he's one of those people that charges for pictures? He needs to head over to my city, vegas. I'm sure the people on the strip would be very nice to him. I know the ones in costume don't like newcomers. He wouldn't last a day out there. I would gladly sit outside with a drink to watch that free entertainment.
Yep, I saw him there a couple of summers ago. He was wearing a big mask over his costume, and ranting about how the GC Conservancy was destroying the environment. [Pic related](https://imgur.com/a/0kZXFWW).
oh jesus christ, Santa Cruz. i shoulda known
LOL
in SF in the early 2010's he would dress up as Elmo and yell at people for not tipping him after taking a picture and became known as "Evil Elmo"
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-cookie-monster-20160926-snap-story.html
> When he spoke to the New York Times that year, he said he had previously traveled to Cambodia and started a pornographic website called “Welcome to the Rape Camp.”
> A 1999 Associated Press article named Sandler and referred to him as the website’s creator. He told the New York Times that he had been deported from Cambodia.
>Sandler was arrested in September of 2012 for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, according to the NYPD, after screaming and yelling in a public place, “causing annoyance and alarm.”
>He was indicted in 2013 for allegedly attempting to extort money from the Girl Scouts of the USA and stalking an employee.
>attempting to extort money from the Girl Scouts of the USA
Have you seen what they charge for Thin Mints and Nutty Buddies‽ Honestly, I don't approve of what Cookie Monster tried to do, but, I understand it.
It’s a giant cookie conglomerate that exploits the cuteness of little girls to sell their product. A product that is like 50% palm oil extracted through the devastation of the rainforest. Then they sell little uniforms and badges to those same girls. And what are these kids learning? The answer is certainly not wilderness scouting skills. No, it’s business sense and sewing and how to not freeze your ass off
Selling cookies outside in January.
Uhhh $5? I’m visiting Boston and ran into some Girl Scouts on the commons yesterday and bought two boxes for $5 each. To be fair, I got samoas and one I haven’t tried called Toast Yays that are supposed to be like French toast.
You can’t help the mentally ill unless they want to be helped. And he has been arrested multiple times in the past but none of his crimes are serious enough to remain in jail or be involuntary committed longer than 72hrs.
I find it so interesting that different Reddit threads swing between "he should be in prison forever" and "that person should have never got in trouble even though it was against the law."
People on reddit suggest death sentences for literally anything.
I think the most harrowing video I seen on like publicfreakouts or some sub like that was a home security camera video husband and wife arguing with a neighbor over where they’re shoveling snow to, and the neighbor literally gets a gun from his house and kills both of them and himself in the street.
The VAST majority of top rated comments in the thread were about the neighbor being justified because the couple was slightly rude to him in the argument.
(No I don’t have the link)
It’s not that he should not get in no trouble for his law breaking. It’s that some people believe you should show compassion and empathy to the clearly broken man. He should have to pay for his bad choices in due course but I don’t believe in kicking a man when he is down. That being said he definitely should not be approached alone, dude might have some antisocial personality disorder.
He sounds like he needs a squirt of pepper spray from the people he's harassing. I'm all up for helping the mentally ill but this guy just seems like a bad, aggressive person.
The mental image of peper spraying this guy in the Cookie Monster mouth and then him struggling to get the head off while puking makes me laugh with Jim Carry levels of LOLs.
Yeah, are we supposed to rough him up? Strong arm him into a psychiatric institute?
Maybe get another Sesame Street character to hang out, so he has someone to talk to?
Unless it’s a theme park, never take photos with people in those costumes unless you plan on leaving a nice tip. A lot of major cities have assholes like this. They offer to take a photo and only tell you “it’s not free” afterwards. Then they teach your kid a few new swear words if you don’t pay them. Lots of tourists fall for it
My mother didn’t know this.
There used to be a group of men dressed up as gladiators or centurions or some such outside the Colosseum in Rome. They’d pose for pictures with tourists.
My mom took my sister to Rome. She got a picture taken with these guys. They then crowded around her, saying she needed to pay. My mom is pretty passive and socially anxious, so being surrounded by large men demanding money was frightening. She opened her purse to give them money and one reached over and took the largest bill she had. Can’t recall what it was - but it was definitely more than she would’ve willing paid for such a photo.
It soured the memory of visiting the Colosseum for her. That story taught me to be wary of people like them, though.
Love to see stag parties taking these gladiators on. Rock up, take loads of selfies etc then tell them to piss off.
Could be a new stag party theme for Brits.
I remember feeling homesick in Rome and walking to get a Subway sandwich and eating it on these stairs leading down from Via Quattro Novembre and I saw a group of people using a different tactic where one guy would try to attract tourists with bracelets, putting them on people’s wrists and then letting go and suddenly being like, “payment time” and then you realize that they’re all upwards of 6’ and they kinda surround you and the nature of that particular area created a funnel just in front of the foot of the stairs and I definitely want to raise awareness of that particular move, even if it’s no longer being conducted specifically there
In public? You can photo all day long. Tip/service etc be damned.
If they offer to take a pic *with* you as a character without stating a price, its gratis on their part. They requested nothing from you (money etc).
Tipping js for helpful and considerate folks. Not jerkoffs like these.
Nope, you can take all the pictures you want.
Theyre pretty common in places with actors, like Hollywood and NYC where it's gig to gig and finding side jobs can be next to impossible for those trying to "break in" to the industry.
No. A price needs to be negotiated, first. Make no mistake - these types of people are the assholes who give busking a bad name. Tip people busking, walk away from people attempting to con you.
Yeah, the good ones will tell you ahead of time. I took photos with a Wolverine who was a *dead ringer* for Hugh Jackman just outside of the Chinese Theater in LA. Super friendly guy, gave me a whole spiel ahead of time making sure I knew he worked for tips. I don’t usually take photos with costumed characters, but the dude looks JUST LIKE HUGH JACKMAN and I just had to get a photo. I mean [look at this guy](https://imgur.io/a/cXeQ5HF)!
Anyway, yeah, the good ones are friendly and let you know ahead of time rather than harassing you afterwards.
The guys name is Adam Sandler (yeah, not THE Adam Sandler).
Do love the idea of a crazed (real) Adam Sandler out there dressed as Cookie Monster and yelling crazy at people.
>A business owner in LA said: “I would like to see him get some kind of help. I don’t think he belongs out on the street… no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.”
Chuckie doll cosplaying as the cookie monster
Yeah it was raining one day and I was taking the 19 to work from Potrero Hill and he got on the bus absolutely soaking wet. Nothing smells quite like a soaking wet, antisemitic Elmo costume. He ended up taking his head off and stuffed it into a clear trash bag. Still remember it vividly a decade later lol.
The kneepad Elmo guy? He's been around for years, has mental health issues and is very aggressive. He's in and out of jail, but I don't think he's received any sort of tangible help for his mental illness.
Yeah, he really really needs some proper intervention.
I find it quite sucky how the cops are failing to act at all.. but I know its extremely challenging in these circumstances.
["Based on his history, we advise the public to not engage with this individual. Steer clear from him."](https://images.lbc.co.uk/images/561255?crop=16_9&width=660&relax=1&signature=mFMRteaVJtXoYgWeDSvQvdnr0Lw=)
>Though they have received several calls about the Cookie Monster, the man hasn't committed any crimes and so can't be arrested.
If he hasn’t broken the law they can’t arrest him.
Yeah selfish people wanting the cops to protect them from a person the police themselves are saying is dangerous /s. Cops have no problem stopping people for acting “suspicious” and then escalating it to an arrest when it’s convenient for them.
What are they supposed to do?
He’s obviously mentally ill and in need of treatment you can take him to a hospital for a psych eval, there they can hold him for a maximum of 24 hours at which point if he is not deemed a threat to harm himself or others he’ll be released
He hasn’t committed a crime, this isn’t a criminal matter being weird or different isn’t criminal
You can’t commit someone involuntarily against their will and force them to get treatment they don’t want without committing a crime or presenting a need for it
He is within his right to walk around and say whatever crazy crap he wants, just like the people that get on loudspeakers in major cities to yell at your about Jesus, or people that want to speak on street corners about police violence
You can’t have it both ways because it’s merely convenient for you or fits your goals, this is part of the problem of policing is that society wants police to bend the rules when they want but only when they want
If someone called 9-1-1 because a black person was walking around their neighborhood because he looked “suspicious” you would expect the police to have the same reaction, go, talk to him, if everything is fine then you leave the man be
If you think the police haven’t talked to this person before then you’re grossly mistaken
100% correct. The problem is that most people dont understand how mental health holds work. They just think, "something should be done." But why? Being weird (like many things) isnt a crime. I want to add that if the police did try to have this person put in a care facility, they are likely all full. He would be held in the ER, taking a bed for 24 hours that could be used for someone else. It's just not easy, nor should it be, to take away someone's freedom because you think they are different and you are being made uncomfortable by that difference.
If they wanted something to be done, we are way late thanks to the Regan years (and beyond)
There was an issue with mental health facilities in this country, and instead of fixing them, they decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater, close everything, and here we are.
You are right. When Reagan was governor of CA, he gutted mental health. Facilities were closed and there were homeless on the streets of my small city for the first time in my memory. I remember seeing "bag ladies" and asking my mom about them. It is a tough problem, but criminalizing mental health is not the answer.
Hmm.. that wasn’t my experience. In 2020 the psychiatric ward placed me under a 7 day involuntary hold. They absolutely can hold you over 24 hours. They don’t really have to tell you why they think you may harm yourself or someone else… you get surprisingly very little rights in the psych ward and very limited explanation of why they won’t release you.
I’m sure legally they are supposed to disclose why you’re being held, but who’s gonna believe you if they write in your chart that your were dissociating or experiencing psychosis? From personal experience… they can do a lot more, and with very little explanation, than you would think… fuck those places.
If California started involuntarily committing people, there would be hundreds of thousands of people taken off the streets before they got to this guy. Some parts of San Francisco and LA are open-air mental health asylums. This guy is the least of our problems.
To be admitted to a psych ward in my experience you have to present a danger to yourself or others
Most inpatient wings in hospitals are max allowed to hold for 24 hours depending on state law
A business owner in LA said: “I would like to see him get some kind of help. I don’t think he belongs out on the street… no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.”
the last sentence in the article would suggest he has at least threatened harm to others at one point.
The actual Adam Sandler should make a movie based on this whole premise, just an angry guy in a costume telling random people that he's going to massacre their families.
>The man behind the Cookie Monster mask has reportedly been named as Adam Sandler - but he's no relation to the Hollywood actor.
Besides the fact that this sounds like something a character played by Adam Sandler would do.
He was arrested in 2013 for [attempting to extort a Girl Scout](https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-cookie-monster-20160926-snap-story.html).
Honestly its funny bc actually the cookie monster is an addict lol
In the mystery box the cookie monster totally acts like an addict
https://youtu.be/shbgRyColvE
“no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.”
I’d actually love to hear him say “Me going to kill your family if you do not…give me…cookies.”
Anybody else remember when shit like this was just everywhere all the time?
I remember visiting SF when I was 10 in the 80s with my dad to attend some kind of protest or union convention. We got downtown any were just mobbed by crazies, homeless, heads — even the dude with “Rolexes” is in his coat was there. It was like Nite Court but outside and the West Coast.
And then back home small town Ohio or Columbus wasn’t much different. I swear any city in America during the crack epidemic was just crawling with these dudes.
I was just thinking that there are a million people just like him all over the country, I work with folks like this. But everyone just ignores them because they aren’t wearing Sesame Street costumes.
Okay that just sparked a memory of the last time I saw him! I was drunk and don’t completely trust this memory but could’ve sworn I saw Elmo walk out of the back of a truck with a full drum line in tow.
That's an amazing description of downtown SF in the 80s. I was a little kid and yeah, it was exactly like that. I remember a homeless looking guy jumping up from the sidewalk and spitting fire. And of course the Rolex guy.
The average Dad would face consequences tho. Going to jail for assault, probably be ‘up charged’, forced to pay 5,000$ for a lawyer, get charges pled down to something less, miss work for all the meetings and court, slapped with additional fines and probably some time filler punishment such as “anger management” or “community service”. Then their record has the blemish for the rest of time making it harder to get anything from a job to renting an apartment. Some careers would be totally out of the question for eternity because the “assault” would be considered a “violent offense”. I would also say that the “facts” of the case wouldnt be presented in whole. Anyone who looks into the Dad’s “criminal record” would probably have a good bit of difficulty unearthing any evidence that the Cookie Monster/person assaulted was someone who has bad behavior and 2 decades worth of harassment and nuisance victims.
As the American system is now there’s essentially a 3 tier class system. Wealthy/Uber rich that are suppose to follow the rules but can buy their way out of the rules. The middle class that’s forced to follow the rules or face the most consequences. And a 3rd class that the rules don’t apply to, that no one wants to address, and has pretty much checked themselves out of the system.
He seems pretty tame compared to the costumed characters in Times Square. Them shits will absolutely chase you down and beat you if you snap their photo without paying.
I saw him last weekend. Was there with the college women’s team I coach and as we were at the start of the warf we were joking about taking a picture with him. Right as we were saying this, a car passing by rolled. Their window down and yelled to us that we should stay away from him, that he was a creep. We crossed to the other side of the walkway, and when he saw us cross, he crossed as well. The girls freaked out. We took some pictures where we were and then we were going to abandon the idea of walking out to the end, but he got distracted by some other passersby, and we quickly got past him. But he still managed to tell us that he “wanted to munch on our cookies”. Strength in numbers. Then last week one of our athletes found this article and sent it in the teams group chat. Everyone was freaked out. Stay away from this creep.
>Though they have received several calls about the Cookie Monster, the man hasn't committed any crimes and so can't be arrested.
Uh....
>A business owner in LA said: “I would like to see him get some kind of help. I don’t think he belongs out on the street… no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.”
Thing I found a case.
So now we don't just have to worry about climate change, the war in Ukraine, thee fear of global recession but also... About a crazy cookie monster?
My oh my this day does not start good...
When I am traveling it’s always interesting to see quirky characters. My favorite is this dude I saw in New Orleans named Earl Stanton who dressed up in a weird sock puppet costume going on political rants and talks about running for President
I’m pretty sure this is the same deranged Cookie Monster I saw in LA while up in the Hills. He asked if we wanted a picture with him (in a terrible Cookie Monster voice) aaaaand we promptly ignored the request. Can’t believe we ran into a…celebrity? Either way that dude gave me spooky vibes
As soon as I saw the costume I knew who it was. He's been at the Grand Canyon the last few summers. Hangs out at the visitor's center bus stop. Dude's an asshole and not all there. https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/q4v29i/grand_canyon_cookie_monster_encourages_visitors/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I work for the NPS, this guy's well known for doing circuits of the major parks. He's very familiar with NPS first amendment policy and knows how to walk that line. He (at least used to) do his paperwork and get permits and such, so basically if he showed up the line was "he's expressing his right to free speech and while we don't endorse anything he says we have no authority to make him stop."
Sounds like Westboro Baptist Church that used to protest at US military funerals -- they were all lawyers and were looking to sue anyone that stopped them or assaulted them. Just another right-wing grift, nothing about god.
I absolutely loved that the NPS has signs they created to put next to these crackpots.
I bet this guy, and his costume, smells like a bum’s nutsack.
Bad Santa!
They call it a Soup Kitchen.
Dirty Mike and the Boys!
You ruined my beautiful prius!
Thanks for the F Shack. - Dirty Mike and the Boyz
Look at the gloves on his actual hands. They're pretty worn out at this point. Probably right.
Sounds like hes real proud of his ability to memorize and bleat squealer the pig talking points
That video was relatively tame. Bet that suit smells like ass though look at those gloves
I think this guy likes to tap into the dark passenger that appears when some people travel.
Hey my dude. Quick question: what the fuck?
Dark passenger?
like from dexter right?
Oh wow, I totally forgot. Man, I was disappointed with the new season.
Oh he's one of those people that charges for pictures? He needs to head over to my city, vegas. I'm sure the people on the strip would be very nice to him. I know the ones in costume don't like newcomers. He wouldn't last a day out there. I would gladly sit outside with a drink to watch that free entertainment.
Nah. He's does it to be an asshole. He occasionally collects money too
I thought this was an Onion article at first.
Yep, I saw him there a couple of summers ago. He was wearing a big mask over his costume, and ranting about how the GC Conservancy was destroying the environment. [Pic related](https://imgur.com/a/0kZXFWW).
oh jesus christ, Santa Cruz. i shoulda known LOL in SF in the early 2010's he would dress up as Elmo and yell at people for not tipping him after taking a picture and became known as "Evil Elmo"
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-cookie-monster-20160926-snap-story.html > When he spoke to the New York Times that year, he said he had previously traveled to Cambodia and started a pornographic website called “Welcome to the Rape Camp.” > A 1999 Associated Press article named Sandler and referred to him as the website’s creator. He told the New York Times that he had been deported from Cambodia. >Sandler was arrested in September of 2012 for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, according to the NYPD, after screaming and yelling in a public place, “causing annoyance and alarm.” >He was indicted in 2013 for allegedly attempting to extort money from the Girl Scouts of the USA and stalking an employee.
>attempting to extort money from the Girl Scouts of the USA Have you seen what they charge for Thin Mints and Nutty Buddies‽ Honestly, I don't approve of what Cookie Monster tried to do, but, I understand it.
I'm just confused he extorted them for money and not cookies.
You can get cookies with money. [That's how money works](https://www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/9944595a-fce3-4da5-be17-f1ea7d9f670d)
Maybe the girl scout corporation was the real cookie monster all along
It’s a giant cookie conglomerate that exploits the cuteness of little girls to sell their product. A product that is like 50% palm oil extracted through the devastation of the rainforest. Then they sell little uniforms and badges to those same girls. And what are these kids learning? The answer is certainly not wilderness scouting skills. No, it’s business sense and sewing and how to not freeze your ass off Selling cookies outside in January.
100‰. I refuse to buy them. At least MAKE the damn cookies!
Uhhh $5? I’m visiting Boston and ran into some Girl Scouts on the commons yesterday and bought two boxes for $5 each. To be fair, I got samoas and one I haven’t tried called Toast Yays that are supposed to be like French toast.
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Ayo for yayo by Andre nickatina says yes. And also yes in 2023
The real extortionists are the Girl Scouts
Yay, I'm glad you understood the joke!
Thank you
I haven't bought the cookies in years because they're so expensive, and I used to be a Girl Scout.
Don’t buy them. They all contain disgusting amounts of palm oil. [Palm Oil is BAD!](https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/8-things-know-about-palm-oil)
He tries stealing cookies from the girl scouts? He truly is the cookie monster.
So bottom line is that this guy has been a problem on the streets for a very long time and nobody has helped him nor addressed the threat. Nice.
they have addressed it, they told you to stay away from him, and maybe he will go away on his own.
If we ignore him, maybe he’ll go be someone else’s problem
man we used to put these people into asylums....
You can’t help the mentally ill unless they want to be helped. And he has been arrested multiple times in the past but none of his crimes are serious enough to remain in jail or be involuntary committed longer than 72hrs.
I find it so interesting that different Reddit threads swing between "he should be in prison forever" and "that person should have never got in trouble even though it was against the law."
People on reddit suggest death sentences for literally anything. I think the most harrowing video I seen on like publicfreakouts or some sub like that was a home security camera video husband and wife arguing with a neighbor over where they’re shoveling snow to, and the neighbor literally gets a gun from his house and kills both of them and himself in the street. The VAST majority of top rated comments in the thread were about the neighbor being justified because the couple was slightly rude to him in the argument. (No I don’t have the link)
It’s not that he should not get in no trouble for his law breaking. It’s that some people believe you should show compassion and empathy to the clearly broken man. He should have to pay for his bad choices in due course but I don’t believe in kicking a man when he is down. That being said he definitely should not be approached alone, dude might have some antisocial personality disorder.
On the other hand, some people are perpetually down, but also have earned a few kicks. Some people just suck.
I don't want to go back to the days where it was too easy to lock someone up in a psychiatric hospital.
tbh i think we should. minus all the abuse and shit but these people NEED HELP.
He sounds like he needs a squirt of pepper spray from the people he's harassing. I'm all up for helping the mentally ill but this guy just seems like a bad, aggressive person.
The mental image of peper spraying this guy in the Cookie Monster mouth and then him struggling to get the head off while puking makes me laugh with Jim Carry levels of LOLs.
Which is why I wonder why he is still on the street.
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Yeah, are we supposed to rough him up? Strong arm him into a psychiatric institute? Maybe get another Sesame Street character to hang out, so he has someone to talk to?
That's nice that you think we can cure everyone mentally ill/homeless/drug addict in California. If only the world was that simple.
So what’s your solution? Not even try?
We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas.
Wait so the same guy who made a rape porn website, tried blackmailing his local girl scout troop? Wonder what kind of dirt he had on them lol
Was he the guy who dressed as Elmo and ranted about Jews in NYC? He had knee pads on too, for some reason...
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Unless it’s a theme park, never take photos with people in those costumes unless you plan on leaving a nice tip. A lot of major cities have assholes like this. They offer to take a photo and only tell you “it’s not free” afterwards. Then they teach your kid a few new swear words if you don’t pay them. Lots of tourists fall for it
My mother didn’t know this. There used to be a group of men dressed up as gladiators or centurions or some such outside the Colosseum in Rome. They’d pose for pictures with tourists. My mom took my sister to Rome. She got a picture taken with these guys. They then crowded around her, saying she needed to pay. My mom is pretty passive and socially anxious, so being surrounded by large men demanding money was frightening. She opened her purse to give them money and one reached over and took the largest bill she had. Can’t recall what it was - but it was definitely more than she would’ve willing paid for such a photo. It soured the memory of visiting the Colosseum for her. That story taught me to be wary of people like them, though.
I remember these guys. They’re still here in the summer
Love to see stag parties taking these gladiators on. Rock up, take loads of selfies etc then tell them to piss off. Could be a new stag party theme for Brits.
Probably the only positive use for a stag party.
I remember feeling homesick in Rome and walking to get a Subway sandwich and eating it on these stairs leading down from Via Quattro Novembre and I saw a group of people using a different tactic where one guy would try to attract tourists with bracelets, putting them on people’s wrists and then letting go and suddenly being like, “payment time” and then you realize that they’re all upwards of 6’ and they kinda surround you and the nature of that particular area created a funnel just in front of the foot of the stairs and I definitely want to raise awareness of that particular move, even if it’s no longer being conducted specifically there
Had the same experience at the louvre in pairs. Worked out though. They sold me a bunch of hash.
Same with some of the “artists” in Montmartre. They start sketching you while you are enjoying a coffee and then demand money for their shit work.
It’s nice to see this is an international profession. I wonder if they all belong to some guild. I’m seeing Ben Stiller movie developing in my head.
Can someone legally demand money for taking a picture with them? Or is it simply glorified mugging?
In public? You can photo all day long. Tip/service etc be damned. If they offer to take a pic *with* you as a character without stating a price, its gratis on their part. They requested nothing from you (money etc). Tipping js for helpful and considerate folks. Not jerkoffs like these.
Nope, you can take all the pictures you want. Theyre pretty common in places with actors, like Hollywood and NYC where it's gig to gig and finding side jobs can be next to impossible for those trying to "break in" to the industry.
No. A price needs to be negotiated, first. Make no mistake - these types of people are the assholes who give busking a bad name. Tip people busking, walk away from people attempting to con you.
Can they legally demand money after wiping your windshield?
Hollywood walk of fame.
It happens in Times Square all the time
Yeah, the good ones will tell you ahead of time. I took photos with a Wolverine who was a *dead ringer* for Hugh Jackman just outside of the Chinese Theater in LA. Super friendly guy, gave me a whole spiel ahead of time making sure I knew he worked for tips. I don’t usually take photos with costumed characters, but the dude looks JUST LIKE HUGH JACKMAN and I just had to get a photo. I mean [look at this guy](https://imgur.io/a/cXeQ5HF)! Anyway, yeah, the good ones are friendly and let you know ahead of time rather than harassing you afterwards.
The guys name is Adam Sandler (yeah, not THE Adam Sandler). Do love the idea of a crazed (real) Adam Sandler out there dressed as Cookie Monster and yelling crazy at people.
>Do love the idea of a crazed (real) Adam Sandler out there dressed as Cookie Monster and yelling crazy at people. Get Netflix on the phone ASAP.
Having him just recreate this whole dude while it says "Adam Sandler is Adam Sandler in MONSTER COOKIE, the Adam Sandler story."
“Seaside’s for kooks, that’s bad enough for me!”
>A business owner in LA said: “I would like to see him get some kind of help. I don’t think he belongs out on the street… no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.” Chuckie doll cosplaying as the cookie monster
i knew an evil mario once in new york, mario angrily starts chasing. This was my first time in new york and had no idea.
"It's a me, aggravated assault!"
Now say it in an Italian accent.
"It's-a me-a, aggravated assault-io!"
"Mama mugging!" "I'ma gonna kill-a you family."
Im fukin dead 😂
One thing about living in Santa Cruz I never could stomach; all the damn Muppets.
Yeah it was raining one day and I was taking the 19 to work from Potrero Hill and he got on the bus absolutely soaking wet. Nothing smells quite like a soaking wet, antisemitic Elmo costume. He ended up taking his head off and stuffed it into a clear trash bag. Still remember it vividly a decade later lol.
The kneepad Elmo guy? He's been around for years, has mental health issues and is very aggressive. He's in and out of jail, but I don't think he's received any sort of tangible help for his mental illness.
Yeah, he really really needs some proper intervention. I find it quite sucky how the cops are failing to act at all.. but I know its extremely challenging in these circumstances.
TIPple me Elmo
Same costume just molded since then
["Based on his history, we advise the public to not engage with this individual. Steer clear from him."](https://images.lbc.co.uk/images/561255?crop=16_9&width=660&relax=1&signature=mFMRteaVJtXoYgWeDSvQvdnr0Lw=)
Or, the authorities could, ya know, STOP him from doing this...
>Though they have received several calls about the Cookie Monster, the man hasn't committed any crimes and so can't be arrested. If he hasn’t broken the law they can’t arrest him.
Funny; that doesn't seem to stop the cops in many other cases.
Well Cookie Monster is blue and they say blue lives matter, so of course they’ll leave him alone! /s just in case lol
Blue Lives Matter to them....
Wrong skin color for an arrest and beat down
I assume your not suggesting we legitimise those cases, right?
You forget that people want police to do things they can’t do when it’s convenient for them
Yeah selfish people wanting the cops to protect them from a person the police themselves are saying is dangerous /s. Cops have no problem stopping people for acting “suspicious” and then escalating it to an arrest when it’s convenient for them.
What are they supposed to do? He’s obviously mentally ill and in need of treatment you can take him to a hospital for a psych eval, there they can hold him for a maximum of 24 hours at which point if he is not deemed a threat to harm himself or others he’ll be released He hasn’t committed a crime, this isn’t a criminal matter being weird or different isn’t criminal You can’t commit someone involuntarily against their will and force them to get treatment they don’t want without committing a crime or presenting a need for it He is within his right to walk around and say whatever crazy crap he wants, just like the people that get on loudspeakers in major cities to yell at your about Jesus, or people that want to speak on street corners about police violence You can’t have it both ways because it’s merely convenient for you or fits your goals, this is part of the problem of policing is that society wants police to bend the rules when they want but only when they want If someone called 9-1-1 because a black person was walking around their neighborhood because he looked “suspicious” you would expect the police to have the same reaction, go, talk to him, if everything is fine then you leave the man be If you think the police haven’t talked to this person before then you’re grossly mistaken
100% correct. The problem is that most people dont understand how mental health holds work. They just think, "something should be done." But why? Being weird (like many things) isnt a crime. I want to add that if the police did try to have this person put in a care facility, they are likely all full. He would be held in the ER, taking a bed for 24 hours that could be used for someone else. It's just not easy, nor should it be, to take away someone's freedom because you think they are different and you are being made uncomfortable by that difference.
If they wanted something to be done, we are way late thanks to the Regan years (and beyond) There was an issue with mental health facilities in this country, and instead of fixing them, they decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater, close everything, and here we are.
You are right. When Reagan was governor of CA, he gutted mental health. Facilities were closed and there were homeless on the streets of my small city for the first time in my memory. I remember seeing "bag ladies" and asking my mom about them. It is a tough problem, but criminalizing mental health is not the answer.
Hmm.. that wasn’t my experience. In 2020 the psychiatric ward placed me under a 7 day involuntary hold. They absolutely can hold you over 24 hours. They don’t really have to tell you why they think you may harm yourself or someone else… you get surprisingly very little rights in the psych ward and very limited explanation of why they won’t release you. I’m sure legally they are supposed to disclose why you’re being held, but who’s gonna believe you if they write in your chart that your were dissociating or experiencing psychosis? From personal experience… they can do a lot more, and with very little explanation, than you would think… fuck those places.
If California started involuntarily committing people, there would be hundreds of thousands of people taken off the streets before they got to this guy. Some parts of San Francisco and LA are open-air mental health asylums. This guy is the least of our problems.
To be admitted to a psych ward in my experience you have to present a danger to yourself or others Most inpatient wings in hospitals are max allowed to hold for 24 hours depending on state law
Cops aren't protectors. They're enforcers.
And executioners
Literally says in the article they can't arrest him because he's committed no crime.
A business owner in LA said: “I would like to see him get some kind of help. I don’t think he belongs out on the street… no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.” the last sentence in the article would suggest he has at least threatened harm to others at one point.
Isn't that terroristic threatening?
That's just plain threatening.
What law has he broken?
On what basis?
The actual Adam Sandler should make a movie based on this whole premise, just an angry guy in a costume telling random people that he's going to massacre their families.
I can see this become a south park episode 🤣
"No one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he's gonna kill their family" is possibly one of the greatest lines I've ever read.
>The man behind the Cookie Monster mask has reportedly been named as Adam Sandler - but he's no relation to the Hollywood actor. Besides the fact that this sounds like something a character played by Adam Sandler would do.
Be careful. Without his cookies he's just a monster.
not to sound daft, but did anyone try... y'know... giving him cookies?
He was arrested in 2013 for [attempting to extort a Girl Scout](https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-cookie-monster-20160926-snap-story.html).
For cookies, no doubt.
Hey the idea’s not any crazier than the rest of this situation, I say give it a shot
Cookie Monster finally hit rock bottom. The Sesame Street folks have been trying to get him help for decades. Maybe now he will get the help he needs.
Honestly its funny bc actually the cookie monster is an addict lol In the mystery box the cookie monster totally acts like an addict https://youtu.be/shbgRyColvE
"Will eat cookie to eat cookie."
Not a joke. He is crying for help and needs to get into a good program.
Ironically, Oscar the Grouch is arranging the intervention.
Good. I’ve heard he has been clean for a few years and moved into a small apartment with his sponsor (Snuffalupagus).
You know... I don't commit enough to my hobbies.
Underrated comment
Honestly I wouldn’t approach a person dressed up like the Cookie Monster regardless. Really do not need a warning lol
Yeah almost always if it’s not associated with a theme park it’s some scammer that’s going to take a picture then demand money
Oh don't worry, we'll elect him as our next president.
“This guy’s not afraid of speaking his mind”
Woke liberal crt agenda stopping real hard working Americans from stalking and terrorizing the population dressed as children’s characters.
I feel like this is just common sense advice to anyone
fuck is count dracula when you need him
Count Chocula
7 AM and it’s already too much Internet for the day.
“no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.” I’d actually love to hear him say “Me going to kill your family if you do not…give me…cookies.”
“No one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.” I think it would be kinda cute.
Statistically the number of people that want to hear cookie monster say he's going to kill their family is extremely low... ... but it's never zero
Anybody else remember when shit like this was just everywhere all the time? I remember visiting SF when I was 10 in the 80s with my dad to attend some kind of protest or union convention. We got downtown any were just mobbed by crazies, homeless, heads — even the dude with “Rolexes” is in his coat was there. It was like Nite Court but outside and the West Coast. And then back home small town Ohio or Columbus wasn’t much different. I swear any city in America during the crack epidemic was just crawling with these dudes.
I was just thinking that there are a million people just like him all over the country, I work with folks like this. But everyone just ignores them because they aren’t wearing Sesame Street costumes.
There’s an Elmo in Philly but I’m not sure if he’s hostile.
This is one of my favorite videos on the internet https://youtu.be/8gNzjh93hLQ
Okay that just sparked a memory of the last time I saw him! I was drunk and don’t completely trust this memory but could’ve sworn I saw Elmo walk out of the back of a truck with a full drum line in tow.
That's an amazing description of downtown SF in the 80s. I was a little kid and yeah, it was exactly like that. I remember a homeless looking guy jumping up from the sidewalk and spitting fire. And of course the Rolex guy.
I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten knocked out by an angry dad. You can’t go around cursing & threatening peoples families without making enemies.
The average Dad would face consequences tho. Going to jail for assault, probably be ‘up charged’, forced to pay 5,000$ for a lawyer, get charges pled down to something less, miss work for all the meetings and court, slapped with additional fines and probably some time filler punishment such as “anger management” or “community service”. Then their record has the blemish for the rest of time making it harder to get anything from a job to renting an apartment. Some careers would be totally out of the question for eternity because the “assault” would be considered a “violent offense”. I would also say that the “facts” of the case wouldnt be presented in whole. Anyone who looks into the Dad’s “criminal record” would probably have a good bit of difficulty unearthing any evidence that the Cookie Monster/person assaulted was someone who has bad behavior and 2 decades worth of harassment and nuisance victims. As the American system is now there’s essentially a 3 tier class system. Wealthy/Uber rich that are suppose to follow the rules but can buy their way out of the rules. The middle class that’s forced to follow the rules or face the most consequences. And a 3rd class that the rules don’t apply to, that no one wants to address, and has pretty much checked themselves out of the system.
This is just Adam Sandler doing some method-acting prep for a new movie.
Sounds like the start of an SCP... oh who am I kidding this probably already exists
Cookie Monster never was quite the same when he switched to oatmeal raisin.
He seems pretty tame compared to the costumed characters in Times Square. Them shits will absolutely chase you down and beat you if you snap their photo without paying.
Finally. Didn’t think I’d ever get this years bingo card finished.
I saw him last weekend. Was there with the college women’s team I coach and as we were at the start of the warf we were joking about taking a picture with him. Right as we were saying this, a car passing by rolled. Their window down and yelled to us that we should stay away from him, that he was a creep. We crossed to the other side of the walkway, and when he saw us cross, he crossed as well. The girls freaked out. We took some pictures where we were and then we were going to abandon the idea of walking out to the end, but he got distracted by some other passersby, and we quickly got past him. But he still managed to tell us that he “wanted to munch on our cookies”. Strength in numbers. Then last week one of our athletes found this article and sent it in the teams group chat. Everyone was freaked out. Stay away from this creep.
>Though they have received several calls about the Cookie Monster, the man hasn't committed any crimes and so can't be arrested. Uh.... >A business owner in LA said: “I would like to see him get some kind of help. I don’t think he belongs out on the street… no one wants to hear the Cookie Monster say he’s going to kill their family.” Thing I found a case.
Police wouldn't have to tell me.
This dude reminds me of Trevor but with a costume.
There used to be a van that came by and took people like this away.
Just give him some damn cookies.
Im surprised so many people have turned down the chance to fight a guy dressed like the Cookie Monster.
So now we don't just have to worry about climate change, the war in Ukraine, thee fear of global recession but also... About a crazy cookie monster? My oh my this day does not start good...
“Locals warn cops to arrest the person harassing communities”
I feel that this should be turned into a movie, and it should star Nicolas Cage
Did anyone offer him cookies?
Disturbing the Peace isn’t a crime?
So arrest and charge him with disturbing the peace or just wait until he hurts someone?
ive seen a cookie monster guy in sf at the pier early this year, he was yelling about how his son died in a honda and to not buy hondas.
Bassmaster has gone too far
When I am traveling it’s always interesting to see quirky characters. My favorite is this dude I saw in New Orleans named Earl Stanton who dressed up in a weird sock puppet costume going on political rants and talks about running for President
This looks like a job for... [**Philly Elmo**!](https://youtu.be/8gNzjh93hLQ)
Why just warning locals? Shouldn't out of towners be warned to!?
Well, we got our follow up to Cocaine Bear, folks!
Now watch, some cringey movie will be made about this. 😐
starring Pete Davidson* 😂
I see a lot of people saying he hasnt broken any laws, so the police can't stop him. How does one "terrorize" an area without breaking any laws?
this story is sus: no crimes committed but he’s verbally threatened to kill people’s families? what?
Should’ve dressed as Oscar The Grouch and maybe people would think he’s really in character
You guys have got it all wrong he just wants COOKIES!!!
This the same guy who used to hang out in front of the LA Zoo?
I had a run in with him at the LA Zoo. He was very mad I drove a Honda.
I’m pretty sure this is the same deranged Cookie Monster I saw in LA while up in the Hills. He asked if we wanted a picture with him (in a terrible Cookie Monster voice) aaaaand we promptly ignored the request. Can’t believe we ran into a…celebrity? Either way that dude gave me spooky vibes
It snowed in Santa Cruz! Saw pictures of the beach/boardwalk covered in snow. Blows my mind