Bad croak in Kermit's voice

The Muppets Studio is blaming "unacceptable business conduct" for its dismissal of Steve Whitmire as the longtime voice of Kermit the Frog.

Whitmire had been with the Muppets since 1978 and took over as Kermit after the untimely death of Muppets founder Jim Henson in 1990.

The Muppets Studio did not detail the nature of Whitmire's "repeated unacceptable business conduct", but said it spanned "a period of many years", adding that the actor "consistently failed to address his employers' feedback".

Whitmire could not immediately be reached for comment.

The studio said veteran Muppets performer Matt Vogel was now taking over as the popular talking green frog.