HOLLYWOOD, CA - Protesters crowded around the Jim Henson Company lot in Hollywood Monday to protest Kermit the Frog and his "obvious ties to Pepe," the internet-famous frog meme associated with alt-right trolls and white supremacists. Though Kermit had zero connection to Pepe outside of his species, protestors insisted the frog resign immediately. By Tuesday, the Henson Company had given in to the demands and Kermit was fired from his position as CEO.
The company was prompted to act after Kermit attempted to address the controversy on Twitter, only making matters worse. In one tweet, Kermit claimed he would never reject his own species because of one "amphibious troll." The Twittersphere hammered this statement, creating memes mocking the tweet such as one depicting Adolph Hitler with the spoofed tweet overlayed with the text, "I can't reject the Nazi party just because of one fascist troll."
Many of the responding tweets said if Kermit wasn't willing to disown the frog species and get trans-specieal surgery, it only proved the felt frog's allegiance to the alt-right. By Tuesday afternoon, many of the Muppets had come out rejecting Kermit's statements and calling for his resignation.
Other Muppet responses to Kermit included Miss Piggy claiming, "He was always weirded out about our inter-specieal relationship. I guess for some Muppets, morality is less important than the color of your felt." Gonzo simply said, "Kermit's defending bigots? And people say I'm the crazy one." Scooter, one of the most openly left-wing of the Muppets came out hard against his green colleague.
While some people made suggestions for other animals Kermit could be instead of a frog, such as a bush baby or a fainting goat, others said it was too late. The thousands of hours of entertainment Kermit offered represent a deep history of Pepe support that could not be erased with one simple species-change, they claimed.
Finally, after the backlash had the hashtag #FireKermit trending at #1 for most of Tuesday, the Jim Henson Company released a statement claiming Kermit would no longer be working with them.
Resistance Twitter celebrated the decision, considering it another big win for social justice. Kermit is the second Muppet to be fired by the Jim Henson Company following the controversy last month revealing the Swedish Chef had been flashing white power hand signs for decades.
One of the Swedish Chef's overt racist references seen on air.
The Swedish Chef has not been heard from since his firing because Twitter took down his account. His agent did release this statement: "A shmoody doody shmorgy shmoogy," which he claims was a statement of sympathy toward Kermit after his firing.
Kermit could not be reached for comment but he has since deleted almost all of his tweets, leaving just one pinned tweet on his profile that reads, "It was never easy being green. Now it's darn near impossible."
Activists say they have their sights set on the Dig'em frog from Honey Smacks who they say has been, "marketing sugary cereal to white power groups for decades."