Save the Muppets Save the Muppets was a fan - based effort to bring attention to a move being made by The Walt Disney Company in 2005 which called for the casting of multiple performers for the core . Background . In the fall of 2005 , the Muppets Holding Company held open auditions for puppeteers , casting alternate performers to puppeteer and voice the main Muppet characters . Earlier in 2005 Miss Piggy appeared at New York Fashion Week ; however as Eric Jacobson was unable to attend the event , Kevin Clash puppeteered Miss Piggy but did not speak for her in order to preserve the character ' s consistency . In October , regular Muppeteers Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire were replaced on the Movies . com webseries " Statler & Waldorf : From the Balcony " with Victor Yerrid and Drew Massey taking over the roles of Statler and Waldorf ( they also took up the characters of Dr . Teeth , Animal , Sam the Eagle , and Sweetums ) . " Muppets Ahoy ! " , a live shipboard stage show , debuted on the Disney Cruise Line in 2006 and featured alternate performers for the main Muppet characters , including John Kennedy , Victor Yerrid , Drew Massey , and Brett O ' Quinn . In September 2009 , Kermit the Frog was performed by Artie Esposito for appearances on " America ' s Got Talent " , the " MTV Video Music Awards " and the second day of the D23 Expo singing " Rainbow Connection . " Steve Whitmire commented on the alternate recasting in an interview on " The MuppetCast " , stating " from a mass - production standpoint , that ' s exactly what you ' d do . From a character standpoint , if you want to integrate that and have both working , you ' ve got to be real careful . " Fan campaign . Fearing that the core Muppeteers would be replaced by a team of alternates , a group of Muppet fans started a fan campaign , Save the Muppets . The campaign was organized by and launched in August 2005 . The Save the Muppets campaign used the slogan " one Muppet , one voice " in its opposition to the idea of multiple performers for the characters . Aside from bringing awareness to the issue , the campaign organized letter - writing efforts and gathered signatures on an online petition in hopes of reversing Disney ' s plans to cast alternate performers . Over 3 , 600 signatures were collected on the petition . The campaign ran from 2005 to 2007 ; in 2008 , the campaign website closed . Responses . The campaign was alluded to in a March 2006 article in an Australian newspaper , " The Courier - Mail " about " Sesame Street " ’ s " Healthy Habits for Life " season : In a 2006 interview at the TV Land Awards , Steve Whitmire and Eric Jacobson spoke in detail about the importance of an individual to the performance of a Muppet character . Whitmire spoke about the importance of individual performers for the characters in an interview with " The MuppetCast " , stating that " it ' s not just the voice – you could probably find a voice artist who could do a believable Gonzo , or Piggy , or Kermit , or whatever – it ' s the character . " In his in - depth discussion on the importance of character identity and having a linear line of performers , Whitmire went on to say : Aftermath . In a 2008 interview with the fan site ToughPigs . com , Steve Whitmire explained that the situation resolved itself , stating : Whitmire also reiterated that Disney ' s desire of using multiple performers for the Muppet characters was a thing of the past in a 2010 interview with fan site " The MuppetCast " . When asked about the recasting of Kermit on " America ' s Got Talent " , Whitmire stated : In 2011 , Dave Goelz explained the importance of one performer per Muppet when questioned about why only one person performs each individual character : A 2014 article in " Variety " leading up to the release of " Muppets Most Wanted " connects to the current position of Muppets making appearances with their performer to the method in which it was established : In 2017 , news broke that Whitmire would no longer work for the Muppets , and that Kermit the Frog would be performed by veteran Muppeteer Matt Vogel . In contrast with the 2005 initiative , Disney explained that the situation was the result of recasting the role rather than hiring multiple performers for one character . " ( see Steve Whitmire : Leaving the Muppets ) "