‘Does it really matter’ if Bert and Ernie aren’t gay, asks Frank Oz. Yes, some say.
For a brief time, Sesame Street’s iconic duo, Bert and Ernie, were out of the closet and at the top of Twitter’s trending list, following the remarks of a former writer for the PBS children’s show in an interview published Sunday.
By Tuesday, Sesame Workshop weighed in with a statement firmly denying that the Muppets have any sexual orientation.
New York Times reporter Liam Stack pointed out that Bert and Ernie’s time out of the closet was a brief one.
Well-known Muppets puppeteer Frank Oz took to Twitter Tuesday to ask whether it matters if the duo are gay.
“Does it really matter? Why the need to define people as only gay? There’s much more to a human being than just straightness or gayness,” Oz wrote in the tweet.
Oz went on, in replies, to say that he created the character of Bert.
“I know what and who he is,” he wrote.
Many people tweeted their disagreement with both Oz and Sesame Workshop.
Comedian Rhea Butcher wrote to Oz, “As a gay kid who grew up with immense happiness from your creations, this tweet makes me very sad.”
“‘Best friends’ - yeah whatever,” tweeted Bay Area California State Sen. Scott Wiener, who earlier tweeted “I knew there was a reason I liked Bert & Ernie so much when I was a little gay kid.”
Author John Scalzi tweeted that while Oz might not have created Bert as gay, “a lot of parents feel the same, but then their kids come out anyway.”
While Sesame Workshop wrote that Bert and Ernie “remain puppets and do not have a sexual orientation,” many on Twitter were quick to point out another famous Muppets duo, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, whose on-again, off-again relationship has extended across several movies and TV shows.
And, in regular Twitter fashion, people were ready with the jokes.
Though many were disappointed to see Sesame Workshop shut down Bert and Ernie’s gay relationship, some held out hope for another popular Muppet duo.