Elmo has had a rough week. First everyone on Twitter dumped their trauma all over him, and now beloved curmudgeon Larry David has beaten him up on live television. To what end, Larry? To what end?



Elmo and his dad Louie appeared on The Today Show in order to discuss Elmo’s viral tweet and the subsequent trauma dump, and everyone was having a nice time and a pleasant conversation until David walked behind the couch and started wailing on Elmo, who in addition to being a Muppet is only three years old.



Smiling, David then walks off set as Elmo shouts after him, “Mr. Larry, Elmo loved you before!” suggesting that Elmo no longer loves him and does indeed have limits. David, meanwhile, yelled that “Somebody had to do it!,” which suggests there’s an existing beef between David and Elmo that we’re not privy to. The hosts on the couch were laughing throughout the altercation, while Al Roker stood in front of the weather map looking how we all felt: shell-shocked.



David was then made to apologize to Elmo “from [his] heart,” and Elmo graciously accepted his apology, although he seemed to be still slightly shaken by the encounter, shouting at David while accepting his apology. David, in typical David fashion, seemed chastened, particularly when Hoda and Jenna call Elmo a sweetheart only to follow it up with, “Larry, you are not.” Ouch.



We have no idea what drove David to commit such an act of violence — is it an elaborate promo for the upcoming final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm? Did he see this person’s tweet and think Elmo needed a dose of reality? Are David and Elmo in a secret fight club together?



The worst part of all this is that it’s Elmo’s birthday on February 3rd, and he’s been dealing with nonstop human nonsense all week. Happy birthday Elmo, sorry humans are so weird.