Frank Oz Addresses Grover’s Alleged F-Bomb Controversy on ‘Sesame Street’

After some Sesame Street viewers took to social media, convinced the furry and lovable character, Grover, dropped an F-bomb on air, actor and master puppeteer, Frank Oz is addressing the controversy.

Oz, who has played Grover for more than 40 years, took to social media in response to a tweet from Star Wars star, Mark Hamill and expressed his disbelief over the thought that anyone would believe an F-bomb would take place on Sesame Street.

“Really? I didn’t perform Grover there but I assure you, we take the purity of the characters very seriously. But people will hear what they want to hear,” Oz wrote to one fan.

He was then asked by another fan that if the F-word had been dropped, it would have been cut from the series. However, Oz dismissed the comment entirely and instead defended the morals of Sesame Street’s characters, along with the Muppets.

“I’ve never understood why some people love imagining that, between takes, we screw around with the characters by having them swear or having them use sexual innuendos or putting cigarettes in their mouths and laughing,” he wrote. “We don’t. It would be a betrayal of the character’s purity.”

Amid the comments and fans chiming in, Oz also responded to his Star Wars co-star, Mark Hamill, who joked that Grover was more like, “Gangsta Grover.”

“It works both ways. First: Listen to it knowing he actually says ‘That sounds like an excellent idea’ — It’s pure Sesame Street. Next: Listen to it & you’re sure he dropped the F-bomb. It’s #GangstaGrover on The Sopranos,” Hamill wrote.

However, Oz stuck by his guns and chimed in, quipping, “Wait. You mean some of you out there seriously believe that Grover on Sesame Street would say the word ‘fuck’ — on camera or off-camera? Really????”

The F-word debacle began Friday when fans and a few Sesame Street viewers became convinced that Grover dropped an F-bomb while talking to Rosita.

“Move the camera, yes, yes, that sounds like an excellent idea,” Grover said. However, some fans heard it as, “Yes, yes, that’s a f—ing excellent idea.”

EW cited one social media commenter who attempted to explain why we have a tough time hearing the correct verbiage.

“What our brain is supposed to hear in this clip is ‘that sounds like an excellent idea.’ Our brain breaks that down into “that sands likean excellent idea!’ However, since Grover says that defining feature so fast, it turns into “that ‘sa f–kan excellent idea!’ If you listen closely, you can hear both at the same time… Our brain turns ‘ndsl’ into ‘fl’ because it happens too fast, and doesn’t care much about ‘L’ anyway …Congrats, you now know how Auditory Processing Disorder works!” the user explained.

Photo credit: PBS / Sesame Street