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

[LittleJerry92]

You know, this is how I'd picture Kermit reading the comments on this thread.

 

[Gymbal31]

Like a lot of people in this thread, I haven't been here in a while. but I came to see what was being said about the whole issue.

I've been a boss in a small, almost "mom and pop" kind of business as well as the corporate type of business.

In the smaller one, I could make the decisions as I went along. I tried to be as fair as I could and treat everyone equally. But we didn't have a rule book other than show up on time (or pretty close), do your work, let me know if there's a problem. I did have some problems with employees. I fired a couple. But mostly, it was go with the flow.

Doing pretty much the same job, but in the more corporate type of business, we had RULES. A full manual. Steps had to be taken long before I could fire anyone. Lots of paperwork for any disciplinary action.

If you want to hate Disney, call them evil, never have anything to do with them again, well, you can do that. But a billion dollar corporation doesn't make decisions on a whim or for minor reasons, at any level.

 

[D'Snowth]

I snook a peak at one of the newer articles about the situation and an anonymous source said that Steve was fired from SS as well, but for financial reasons (he wanted more money).

I heard something about that, but I wasn't entirely sure if that really was the case.

And if that is the case, I guess it makes sense to a degree: Frank has openly admitted that's why we don't see him on SST anymore (not even for a day a year) because they can't afford him.

 

[animalrescuer]

With this new information developing from Brian, on the one hand, I don't want to believe that Steve was being a total jerk about things because nobody has heard of or seen the performers be horrible to others. However, I can see why he comes off that way, maybe he asked for too much, too fast, maybe it was an ego problem.

But really, if the Henson kids didn't like the behavior before the sale to Disney, did they ever actually talk to him about it? I honestly believe at this point, it's a lose-lose situation for everyone.

Anyone have any idea what the other performers think? Will they side with Steve, Disney or the Hensons?

 

[D'Snowth]

But really, if the Henson kids didn't like the behavior before the sale to Disney, did they ever actually talk to him about it?

Brian said they had been warning him about his behavior since the mid-90s.

 

[mbmfrog]

I can understand what Lisa & Brian said about Steve, even if they didn't like him, at least they were professional about it. But Cheryl's statement on facebook still shocks me. I always imagined everyone in the muppet world as one big family. Guess I was foolish to think that.

Well that also would explain why Lisa and Brian are more of the faces for the Henson Company and you hear little from Cheryl.

 

[mbmfrog]

New interview with Brian http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/am...s-replaced-character-could-use-change-1022041

I have to say, I'm starting to side with Brian. While I can see what Steve's intentions were, it seems he was holding The Muppets back quite a bit by being afraid to have them take risks. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what The Muppets have in store for future projects and I wish the best for Steve in his future.

Now that is the Brian Henson I know...he plays the diplomat of all of this and tries to calm the fan fires down while explaining the change in a calm rational way.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well that also would explain why Lisa and Brian are more of the faces for the Henson Company and you hear little from Cheryl.

Cheryl has her own share of exposure: she was interviewed for the A&E BIOGRAPHY special on SST, and she was also there when several old Muppets were donated to the Smithsonian.

But with that being said, I think I have to agree with the consensus that Lisa and Brian were a little more tactful with their statements, whereas Cheryl was just simply scathing.

 

[CBPuppets]

Kinda hard to believe that He was let go in 2016 and yet we're hearing about this just now.

 

[rexcrk]

Anyone have any idea what the other performers think? Will they side with Steve, Disney or the Hensons?

Yeah I'm most interested to see if fellow performers will weigh in on what's going on. (Especially Dave).

Though I feel like it's best if they just stay out of it lol.