Sesame Street welcomes its first ever Filipino American muppet

Sesame Street has introduced its first ever Filipino Muppet, TJ.

TJ is 4 years old and a second-generation Filipino American, voiced by Yinan Shentu.

“I’m learning Tagalog. It’s a language my Filipino family speaks and I have confidence because I can always ask my lola for help when I don’t know a word”, TJ said in his debut interview with Kal Penn.

The puppet’s designer, Bobby Pontillas, says that he based the character off the children of two of his best friends.

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