How could sweet Kermit ever be controversial? I first saw him on "The Muppet Show" in 1976, and then noticed he was also a regular part of Sesame Street. In both shows, Kermit maintained a positive attitude and tried hard, but was bullied by every single character he came in contact with. Even Cookie Monster and Kermit's girlfiriend Miss Piggy dealt him regular abuse.
Still, Kermit was never bitter, and kept doing his job in workmanlike fashion.
His dedication to his craft earned him an emoticon here.
That's why I was absolutely shocked when Kermit became the center of controversy this week.
This is Steve Whitmire. He took over doing the voice for Kermit in 1990, when Jim Henson abruptly fell ill and died at the age of 53. He and Henson were close, and in fact Whitmire was present in the hospital when Henson died.
The news broke on Wednesday last week that Whitmire had been fired from his job as Kermit's voice, after 27 years on the job. He got out ahead of the story by posting a blog announcing his own firing, and talked about "offering multiple remedies to two stated issues" which led to the firing.
Well, this kicked off a shitstorm of responses. Disney (the current owner of The Muppets) had hoped to quietly replace Whitmire, and was likely hoping that his firing would simply be seen as a change of direction, or perhaps bringing in a younger voice to the character. However, Whitmire's blog painted Disney as being intractable and unreasonable, so this warranted a response.
Disney fired back, basically saying that Whitmire was an asshole who was impossible to work with.
Whitmire claimed that he was fired simply because he was "outspoken on character issues" regarding Kermit.Disney and The Muppets Studio have a differing interpretation of the terms of Whitmire's departure, stating that the actor exhibited "unacceptable business conduct." A source close to the studio told THR that Whitmire's communication style was "overly hostile and unproductive" and his way of negotiation delayed productions. His persistent unprofessional behavior over a number of years ultimately led to the decision, the source said.
"The role of Kermit the Frog is an iconic one that is beloved by fans and we take our responsibility to protect the integrity of that character very seriously," a spokesperson for The Muppets Studio told THR in a statement. "We raised concerns about Steve's repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years and he consistently failed to address the feedback. The decision to part ways was a difficult one which was made in consultation with the Henson family and has their full support."
Character issues with Kermit? Is this great, or what?"The first issue was that they felt I had been 'disrespectful' in being outspoken on character issues with the small group of top creative people during the ABC series," said Whitmire, who had been working with the Muppets since 1978. "I have been outspoken about what's best for the Muppets since the Muppets came to Disney [2004], but the fact is I have respect for everyone who was involved in the creation of that series for their own particular contributions. At the same time, I also have insight into their limitations with respect to how well they know the Muppets."
Jim Henson's son, Brian, also joined the shit-talk fest yesterday. Apparently he thought Whitmire was a stubborn dickhead for a long time, and regretted keeping his mouth shut when his family sold The Muppets to Disney. Brian Henson feared that Disney didn't replace Whitmire due to the erroneous belief that he was still a close friend of the Henson family, when in reality the remaining Henson family hated him by that point.
"I have to say, in hindsight, I feel pretty guilty that I burdened Disney by not having recast Kermit at that point because I knew that it was going to be a real problem," Henson told THR. "And I have always offered that if they wanted to recast Kermit, I was all for it, and I would absolutely help. I am very glad we have done this now. I think the character is better served to remove this destructive energy around it."
...
Despite being a fantastic technical puppeteer and impersonator, Henson said Whitmire made "outrageous demands and often played brinkmanship," which he was warned as far back as the mid-1990s needed to stop. Henson declined to go into specifics about Whitmire's exact demands, but did say, "Steve would use 'I am now Kermit and if you want the Muppets, you better make me happy because the Muppets are Kermit.' And that is really not OK."
Now, before you believe that Whitmire was the only crazy one here, read the rest of what Brian Henson had to say:
WTF is this guy talking about? Kermit was a prankster? He would shock you on stage?"There was an awful lot of stuff to Kermit where people thought, 'Oh, Kermit is a wholesome, all-American lovely guy,' which was not really what my dad developed," Henson said. "What my dad developed was that Kermit the Frog is a little bit of a prankster, he likes to put an act on stage that will shock you and is kind of weird. But, Kermit the Frog, when push comes to shove, is loyal and believes in the family of friends. Kermit believes you should love and respect the being most different from you because of how different they are."
He added: "So there was a lot of complexities to Kermit that have been kind of falling away, and I do believe Matt Vogel can access that energy really well. And Matt is a very good performer. And I believe that in protecting Kermit going forward, Matt will do a really wonderful job. I think the fans should not be so scared of change. Steve did Kermit for a very long time — I would say for far too long. And the character was no longer being serviced by Steve performing Kermit."
Absolutely not. Kermit was always the ultimate straight man, and he was played that way all the way up until Jim Henson's 1990 death. I admit I haven't seen much of Kermit since then, but I'm pretty surprised that Jim Henson's own son misunderstood his dad's most iconic character so badly.
Apparently Whitmire was fired just for being a difficult asshole, which I believe was true, but the straw that broke the camel's back was an angry note he left regarding a scene where Kermit lied to his nephew, regarding his breakup with Miss Piggy. The scene in question took place on the short-lived ABC revival of The Muppets in 2016. Apparently that set the wheels in motion for Whitmire's firing, and he knew it might be coming, but he was only officially fired recently.
"I don't think Kermit would lie to him," Whitmire explained. "I think that as Robin came to Kermit, he would say 'things happen, people go their separate ways, but that doesn't mean we don't care about you.' Kermit is too compassionate to lie to him to spare his feelings."
This really is the gift that keeps on giving. I can't wait to read the next chapter in this saga!
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Originally Posted by sonatine
