‘The smallest amount of power a person can go mad with’: The Muppet History fan page controversy, explained

A vague apology from the social media account behind Jim Henson’s Muppet History fan page has unraveled one of the year’s most unexpected social media scandals.

Created in October 2018, the Muppet History account (@HistoryMuppet) described itself as a “fan page dedicated to continuing the spirit and silliness of Jim Henson,” the legendary creator of the Muppets and Sesame Street classics like Elmo and Big Bird. The account amassed half a million followers on Instagram and more than 280,000 on X.

Last week, a lengthy apology was posted to the account’s Instagram page. “Before we dive into these concerns, we want to thank you for your continued support and encouragement,” the apology read. “In building this community, we have been overly protective, confusing fellow fan accounts for competition.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Muppet History (@muppethistory)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Muppet History (@muppethistory)

“We have not properly intervened when members in our own community have caused harm in defending our name. We have overstepped boundaries and ignored the hurt it caused. We cannot take back what has been said and we do not offer this apology with expectations that you will accept it solely on our word.”

The post ended, “We extend our most sincere apologies to those whom we have hurt, either through this platform or personal platforms.”

Curious fans were left to piece together the story themselves. Through a bit of online sleuthing, screenshots soon surfaced allegedly showing Joshua Gillespie, one half of the husband and wife duo who ran the account, apologizing to a woman named Megan, a fellow Muppets fan who runs the account @malonespops, for sexually inappropriate comments. One Reddit user also released a list of allegations, including accusing Gillespie of allegedly sharing a woman’s location with a stalker.

Reports also emerged of the account allegedly belittling smaller Muppet fan pages, even claiming some weren’t “real Muppet pages.” As a result of the controversy, the organizers of the Muppetwt Awards—a fan-created event honoring members of the fandom—announced on X that they were stripping Muppet History of its past honors, including the “2024 Most Wholesome on Muppetwt” Award.

A Message about Muppet History regarding the Muppetwt Awards pic.twitter.com/8Nq5fqJuqF

An updated apology was posted by Gillespie at the tail end of last week. It read, “Throughout my life I have overstepped boundaries in friendships and relationships through lies, manipulation, and sexually inappropriate comments. I own all of that.” Gillespie then takes accountability for the original post, calling it “rushed out,” and adds, “for the foreseeable future Muppet History is ending, as I step away to receive professional help and work to improve myself.”

One X user summed up the scandal, “We have officially calculated the smallest amount of power a person can go mad with and it’s ‘running the Muppet History account on Twitter.’”