Muppets Kermit voice actor fired for "unacceptable conduct"

CAIRO - 18 July: The Muppets studio had released a statement Monday, saying that actor Steve Whitmire, the voice of Kermit the Frog, had been fired due to "unacceptable business conduct," according to the Guardian's Associated Press.

Whitmire had portrayed Kermit for 25 years since 1990, after the death of creator Jim Henson, who Whitmire stated in a personal blog post was his hero and inspiration.

Having been part of the team since he was 19 years old during 1978, Whitmire claims that the role was more than just a job or passion, it was "...a calling, an urgent, undeniable, impossible to resist way of life." Whitmire had been laid off since October and only now came out about his firing, though neither actor or the Muppets Studio would detail what the "unacceptable business conduct" was that got a longtime member of the Muppets replaced.

On his blog Whitmire apologized not just to his fans but also Henson, fearing that he had failed them all.