Sesame Street has debuted a new Filipino character named TJ. He joins Ji-Young, the show's first Asian American character, introduced in 2021. TJ is performed by Filipino American puppeteer Yinan Shentu, and Ji-Young is performed by Korean American puppeteer Kathleen Kim.

Rosemary Espina Palacios, Sesame Workshop's director of talent outreach, inclusion, and content development, shared on Instagram that TJ's debut was timed for May to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

This week's video shows TJ and Ji-Young discussing the word confidence with actor Kal Penn. Palacios added that the topic of confidence was suggested to help "unravel the model minority stereotype." The model minority is a persistent myth about Asian Americans' collective, monolithic success. The stereotype ignores disparities within specific Asian ethnic groups and minimizes the role racism plays in the struggles of other minority groups.