In recent, live Muppet performances, Steve Whitmire, the man underneath Kermit the Frog for the past 19 years, has not been the one performing Kermit. Kermit has instead been handed to an unknown puppeteer--someone who does not have the respect and the years of entertainment that Steve Whitmire has. We as Muppet fans simply want to know why. We want to know why Steve Whitmire was absent from the performance on America's Got Talent and why he was not present at the MTV Video Music Awards. All we're asking is for someone within Disney or The Muppets Studio to let us know why the icon Kermit the Frog is being performed by someone who has not performed him for 19 years. That's all. We aren't demanding Steve Whitmire be brought back (unless he's gone without just cause), we just want to know WHY. Please sign this petition if you want to know WHERE Steve Whitmire has gone and WHY he has not been performing Kermit the Frog.