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

[The Count]

Helllllooooo Swiss Miss Nurse!

Sorry, it was the chocolate talking.

 

[Old Thunder]

Sorry, it was the chocolate talking.

Ah, so even The Count himself has a sweet tooth! I thought he just snacked on the blood of letters, but I guess I too can be wrong!

 

[The Count]

Blood of letters? Wouldn't the blood of numbers make more sense?
Besides, I prefer sweet little milk chocolate skulls or Hershey's Tombstone bars which brake apart into 13 pieces.

 

[Old Thunder]

Wouldn't the blood of numbers make more sense?

This is why I really need to watch more Sesame Street.

 

[MuppetsRule]

Look, what it all boils down to is this: some of you are right, and some of you are wrong. Now, which of you is right? You are. And which of you is wrong? You are.

So there. End of story.

You're wrong

oh wait, you're right

oh wait, no you're wrong.

Wait . . . . . . I'll get back to you all

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I bet they unveil Vogel's Kermit on NBC Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Don't they always get Kermit and Piggy to do Interviews at the Parade? or the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting?

I don't know. It was sort of last year's Thanksgiving Parade when we found out something was up which led to this whole thing. (Remember Kermit was noticeably absent.)

I really doubt it. As I said before, I think it's much more likely that the Hensons had issues with Steve for a while, but kept quiet because he was still employed by the Muppets. Aftet he got fired, they may have continued to keep quiet, but when they saw all the fans attacking Disney and acting lile Steve was a saint, they felt the need to speak up and essentially say, "Hey, wait a second... you guys are getting the wrong impression about what just happened." Of course, this is just speculation on my part, but it seems more reasonable than some big black-mail conspiracy and cover-up.

Yeah. That's definitely a good theory. But like I said without physically being there we have noway of knowing for sure what happened. We can keep this thread running until the cows come home, but none of us really have a definitive answer. I guess I have to side with what Mo said about how it's best to remain neutral

 

[minor muppetz]

First The Hensons were accused of being bribed into speaking against Steve. Now they're being accused of being blackmailed into speaking against him.

Wait, has somebody else talked about this theory on the board?

I'm pretty sure it's not a cover-up like I might have suggested, but I'd be just as surprised if it was than if it wasn't. Whenever I see Steve or the Hensons or somebody from Disney talk about the situation, it's easy to feel like whoever is talking is the one that's right, and I feel like some things the Henson's/Disney have said contradict what Steve has said, and vice-versa. And maybe both sides feel they were right and the other was wrong, or maybe Steve has been oblivious to his behavior.

I really doubt it. As I said before, I think it's much more likely that the Hensons had issues with Steve for a while, but kept quiet because he was still employed by the Muppets. Aftet he got fired, they may have continued to keep quiet, but when they saw all the fans attacking Disney and acting lile Steve was a saint, they felt the need to speak up and essentially say, "Hey, wait a second... you guys are getting the wrong impression about what just happened." Of course, this is just speculation on my part, but it seems more reasonable than some big black-mail conspiracy and cover-up.

Makes me wonder if the Henson's or Disney (or Sesame Workshop) have issues with any other major performers currently employed, especially long-runners like Dave Goelz and Bill Barretta, that we're not hearing about. Maybe there's people they had issues with in the past that we don't know about, even after they've been gone. It's been widely sourced that Jon Stone had issues with Caroll Spinney, but what if Spinney ended up in a situation similar to Whitmire and it was then revealed that a lot of people agreed with Stone all along (though Stone's opinions of Spinney seem to come more from a sense of "unprofessionalism", as opposed to what Disney and Henson have been saying about Whitmire's firing)?

 

[gravy]

Maybe there's people they had issues with in the past that we don't know about, even after they've been gone. It's been widely sourced that Jon Stone had issues with Caroll Spinney, but what if Spinney ended up in a situation similar to Whitmire and it was then revealed that a lot of people agreed with Stone all along (though Stone's opinions of Spinney seem to come more from a sense of "unprofessionalism", as opposed to what Disney and Henson have been saying about Whitmire's firing)?

Well it sounds to me from his documentary that everyone else had a good relationship with Caroll, so I don't think that scenario could've happened.

 

[D'Snowth]

Sometimes individual personalities just clash, and it sounds like that's the case with Caroll and Jon. Caroll did say he and Jon actually got along pretty well in the beginning, but that their relationship just soured over time and continued to get worse.

 

[Censored]

One theme I’ve noticed throughout this whole discussion is a desire to compare Steve Whitmire to these famous Muppet pioneers like Caroll Spinney, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, or even Jim Henson himself, and try to draw a parallel between Steve’s situation and some real or perceived scenario with them. But, whether one likes Steve or not, these analogies just don’t hold up. These were creative geniuses who helped build an empire from the ground up. Any conflicts that may have taken place were just growing pains as they were figuring out the best way to bring it all to life. Steve stepped in to a ready-made empire and there were pre-determined expectations. It’s a very different situation that naturally brings with it different standards.