Muppets dump Chick-Fil-A to support gay marriage

July 31, 2012

Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company: Strong supporter of gay marriage. In this file photo, she is seen with Muppet character Gonzo with her brother Brian Henson, chairman of The Jim Henson Company, during ceremonies honouring the Muppets with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, March 20, 2012. — Reuters picLOS ANGELES, July 31 — The Muppets are ending their relationship with fast food restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A in a show of support for gay marriage, the creators of the puppet troupe said.

“The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavours,” the company said in a statement posted on their official Facebook page.

The Henson company, named after the creator of lovable characters like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, supplied their Creature Shop Muppet toys to Chick-Fil-A for children’s meal packages but decided to sever ties after recent statements by the fast-food chain’s chief executive Dan Cathy.

Cathy told the Baptist Press in a recent interview the company supported the “traditional family” and “the biblical definition of the family unit”.

The Henson company, whose Muppet characters are hugely popular, said its chief executive Lisa Henson was a “strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD,” the company said in their statement.

GLAAD is the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Representatives for Chick-Fil-A were not immediately available for comment but the company posted on their Facebook page that their restaurants “treat every person with honour, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender”.

They added that they wanted to “leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena”. — Reuters