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Steve Whitmire, the voice of Kermit the Frog, spent 27 years of his life trying to be true to the legacy of Jim Henson, the founder of the Muppets and original voice of Kermit, but he was recently fired from that lifelong pursuit.
Whitemire, however, was not going to let Disney pull the plug on him so easily.
He told The New York Times during a 45-minute interview that the only reason that Disney could give him for his sudden termination was that he had sent notes to the top creators of the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC, which he said he did not think were “disrespectful in any way.” Whitemire also noted that he had acted on the advice of his his union, the Screen Actors Guild, when he turned down a project dispute during a dispute between the guild and Disney.
“This is my life’s work,” Whitemire said. “The only thing I’ve done my whole adult life, and it’s just been taken away from me. I just couldn’t understand why we couldn’t resolve this.”
“I’ve been laying awake at night for nine months trying to empathize with a position of ending somebody’s career over issues that seem to me to be so easily solved,” he added.
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However, Disney fired back, saying that Whitemire was difficult to work with, impossible to negotiate with, and that he was rude to co-workers.
“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,” Debbie McClellan, head of the Muppets Studio, told The New York Times.
The Henson family had expressed their support for Whitemire taking over as the voice of the beloved Muppets character when he first stepped into the role, but now, multiple members of the family are siding with Disney.
“He’d send emails and letters attacking everyone, attacking the writing and attacking the director,” Brian Henson said, recalling some of the behavior that Disney found troubling.
While Whitemire has said that, despite the bad blood, he would be open to returning to voice Kermit in a heartbeat, both the Hollywood Reporter and ABC News report that a replacement has already been found: longtime Muppets performer Matt Vogel.
