Voice of Kermit fought to defend Muppet’s morals before sacking

AS MAYHEM reigned on The Muppets, Kermit the Frog often acted as the lone voice of sincerity.

So much so that the man who voiced the puppet for 27 years has claimed he was sacked in a row about the integrity of the character, and Kermit’s own morality.

Steve Whitmire had his contract with Disney terminated in October 2016, for what the studio said on Monday was “unacceptable business conduct”.

Last week Whitmire spoke out for the first time, telling of his heartbreak at leaving behind a role to which he had dedicated his life.

And yesterday further details of the circumstances trickled out, with Whitmire claiming he was sacked in part because he felt Kermit’s morals were being compromised by the writers.

The 57-year-old said he took particular issue with an episode of The Muppets in which Kermit lied about his break-up with Miss Piggy while speaking to his nephew, Robin. “I don’t think Kermit would lie to him,” Whitmire told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I think that if 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.” He added: “We have been doing these characters for a long, long time and we know them better than anybody.”

But the studio executives disagreed, taking issue with Whitmire sending pages of cast notes to the writers.

They were also angered by a dispute with the union, and accused him of causing trouble for the crew.

“We raised concerns about Steve’s repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years, and he consistently failed to address the feedback,” said Debbie Mcclellan, head of the Muppets Studio, a division of Disney.

“The decision to part ways was a difficult one which was made in consultation with the Henson family and has their full support.”

‘Kermit’s too compassionate to lie. We have been doing these characters for a long, long time and know them’