More than just upsetting to viewers, the messaging of Snuffleupagus was leading to kids thinking that adults wouldn’t believe them if they were being harmed:
The fear was that if we represented adults not believing what kids said, they might not be motivated to tell the truth. That caused us to rethink the storyline: Is something we’ve been doing for 14 years—that seemed innocent enough—now something that’s become harmful?
More than just upsetting to viewers, the messaging of Snuffleupagus was leading to kids thinking that adults wouldn’t believe them if they were being harmed:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brief-history-sesame-streets-snuffleupagus-iidentity-crisis-180957351/