Steve Whitmire has left the Muppets, Matt Vogel to continue as Kermit

[LittleJerry92]

Alright, I watched the video and I must say I do actually feel bad for Steve. Seeing him all teary-eyed like that sure is hard to watch. I did roll my eyes on the mention of him being the cause of Kermit's downfall in the revised Muppet series. I mean, it's not like the show wasn't scripted, right?

And I won't lie, I found Lisa to be a bit snarky in that interview and didn't really like her tone. But, whatever. Those are my thoughts, and if you disagree then to each their own.

 

[antsamthompson9]

[VIDEO OF AGT with ARTIE AS KERMIT]

"It's official, Artie Esposito is now Kermit."

This could very well be a one-time thing. Let's not jump to conclusions.

Look at this message Peter sent me: https://www.facebook.com/peterlinzp...otif_t=feed_comment&notif_id=1500348145830941 I hope this doesn't mean Billy's not with Sesame anymore, cause he's a talented performer.

 

[D'Snowth]

You know what this is actually starting to remind me of? Way back when Teletubbies were taking over the world, the first guy who played Twinky Winky was fired because of that whole gay controversy . . . and the guy was actually pretty upset about that, because he apparently enjoyed the job.

 

[SarahOnBway]

Heyyy people, I have not been here in YEARS, but felt the need to weigh in on this (thank goodness I still use the same password haha).

As with most of you, my heart was broken when the news broke that Steve was no longer going to be performing with the Muppets, and I have continued down this confusing roller coaster of emotions, especially in the last 48 hours. I have met Steve twice and have always, always felt that he was working tirelessly to uphold the standards of the character that he learned from Jim. I believe that he is telling his truth in his side of the story. Whether that is the objective truth in the situation remains to be seen. He grew up working in a Muppets organization that was a tight-knit, small band of hippies that believed in the creative process and input of the entire team. That's the community that Jim set up, not a big studio system, looking at the bottom line as more important than the emotional impact.

Tangentially, I have seen a lot of people take umbrage, both here and on Tough Pigs, with his "I am Kermit, and Kermit is me" comment. I read it as a classic interview technique where the interviewer most likely said to him, "You feel you are Kermit..." as a lead and then he responded, probably meaning philosophically. Honestly, *I* have said to people "I am Kermit, and Kermit is me" before, and I've only been in the same room with the frog once. I don't think for a second Steve would claim that Kermit is more him than Jim.

The Henson response confuses me. Why they feel the need to weigh in, and to so disparage someone whom they a) haven't worked directly with in years and b) have known since he was a teenager, surprises and saddens me. I thought they were more of a family than this. And as we all know, families have their disagreements, but at the end of the day they stick together.

I am desperate to hear Dave's take in all of this, but we probably won't get that.

When the news first broke I asked in a Facebook comment if anyone had ever worked on one of those fan campaigns before that brought a show back from cancellation. The time for that seems to be well past at this point. It does, however, remind me of when Dan Harmon was fired from Community a few years ago. It was ugly, and sad, and both sides were wrong, and the show never really recovered from it. I hope with all my heart that this won't be the same story.

 

[Timhodge]

Regardless of whether the Henson family is still involved in current Muppet productions, they all have years of experience working and/or interacting with Steve (and with many other people who worked with him) and are entitled to their opinions based on that experience.

That said, wow, they do NOT seem to like Steve. If that Cheryl quote is genuine... yikes. This whole thing is incredibly sad and so much deeper than simple "creative differences".

If Steve's downfall was his insistence that the Muppets were done right, well, we have to applaud him for that, but it sounds like he made some bad choices in deciding how to convey his beliefs, and he obviously upset a lot of people to the point where Disney concluded that they couldn't work with him anymore. If he was really refusing to allow an understudy to facilitate minor appearances etc, well... I can understand why he doesn't want to see the Muppets managed that way, to have those characters diluted, but it's pretty much a fact of life these days and it's Disney's decision to make.

All so sad.

 

[Muppet Master]

Heyyy people, I have not been here in YEARS, but felt the need to weigh in on this (thank goodness I still use the same password haha).

As with most of you, my heart was broken when the news broke that Steve was no longer going to be performing with the Muppets, and I have continued down this confusing roller coaster of emotions, especially in the last 48 hours. I have met Steve twice and have always, always felt that he was working tirelessly to uphold the standards of the character that he learned from Jim. I believe that he is telling his truth in his side of the story. Whether that is the objective truth in the situation remains to be seen. He grew up working in a Muppets organization that was a tight-knit, small band of hippies that believed in the creative process and input of the entire team. That's the community that Jim set up, not a big studio system, looking at the bottom line as more important than the emotional impact.

Tangentially, I have seen a lot of people take umbrage, both here and on Tough Pigs, with his "I am Kermit, and Kermit is me" comment. I read it as a classic interview technique where the interviewer most likely said to him, "You feel you are Kermit..." as a lead and then he responded, probably meaning philosophically. Honestly, *I* have said to people "I am Kermit, and Kermit is me" before, and I've only been in the same room with the frog once. I don't think for a second Steve would claim that Kermit is more him than Jim.

The Henson response confuses me. Why they feel the need to weigh in, and to so disparage someone whom they a) haven't worked directly with in years and b) have known since he was a teenager, surprises and saddens me. I thought they were more of a family than this. And as we all know, families have their disagreements, but at the end of the day they stick together.

I am desperate to hear Dave's take in all of this, but we probably won't get that.

When the news first broke I asked in a Facebook comment if anyone had ever worked on one of those fan campaigns before that brought a show back from cancellation. The time for that seems to be well past at this point. It does, however, remind me of when Dan Harmon was fired from Community a few years ago. It was ugly, and sad, and both sides were wrong, and the show never really recovered from it. I hope with all my heart that this won't be the same story.

The more I think about it, it's just super sad that the Henson Family loath Steve like that. One would think that they would be super close. Guess that's not the case.

 

[scooterfan360]

Good that the Inside Edition interview let us hear Steve's voice on the problem. I appreciate hearing what he had to say.

I want to be done thinking about this problem and let it go. Reading all the posts generated here in the last few days is enough to almost cause a headache. I feel both sorry and thankful for Steve, I'm sanguine and hopeful for Matt, and that's all I will say.

Let's just see what the darn postponed video looks like when it's uploaded, then we can discuss Matt's Kermit.

i would like to see that interview.

 

[Mo Frackle]

i would like to see that interview.

Check page 24.

 

[LittleJerry92]

You know what this is actually starting to remind me of? Way back when Teletubbies were taking over the world, the first guy who played Twinky Winky was fired because of that whole gay controversy . . . and the guy was actually pretty upset about that, because he apparently enjoyed the job.

I recall hearing about that. Granted, I find the show just weird as an adult and I don't know how my 7-year-old self enjoyed it.... But that really blows.

 

[D'Snowth]

I think it was the weirdness factor that made it seem enjoyable at the time . . . it's a lot like how Krofft shows in the 70s were reeling in college kids and stoners on Saturday Mornings when the shows were intended for little kids.