The former voice of the Sesame Street character Elmo is being sued by a man who claims the entertainer lured him into drug-fuelled sex when he was 16.
Sheldon Stephens, who is now 24, said he met puppeteer Kevin Clash, at a networking event.
Mr Stephens says he was brought by limousine from Pennsylvania to a New York apartment. There, Mr Clash allegedly smoked crystal meth while giving the teenager another recreational drug.
Mr Stephens first made the allegations last year, but recanted after failed efforts to reach a settlement. He renewed the accusations in a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in Pennsylvania.
Mr Clash's lawyer Michael Berger said his client denies any wrongdoing. He said Mr Stephens had already admitted he had an adult consensual relationship with Mr Clash, now aged 52.
Three other men also are suing Mr Clash, alleging underage sex.
Mr Clash was a voiceover artist and puppeteer for Sesame Street from 1984 to 2012. He resigned after the allegations emerged.
He also appeared in several episodes of The Muppets before going on to work on later Jim Henson productions including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space and The Muppets Wizard of Oz.
In 1999, he appeared in the first film to feature Elmo, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland and in 2011 his life was featured in a documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey.
In America the age of consent varies from state to state. In New York it is 17.
In Pennsylvania it is 16, but there is a corruption of minors statute which acts against adults over the age of 18 corrupting the morals of minors under 18.
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