Surprising Social Media Controversy in the World of Muppet History

A vague apology from social media accounts dedicated to Jim Henson’s Muppet History has unveiled one of the most disturbing and scandalous situations to hit social media this year.

Through a bit of digging, followers of the fan page were shocked to learn that behind the visage of the wholesome account were allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior with fans, and rumors of attacks toward other Muppet-themed accounts.

Created in October 2018, the Muppet History X/Twitter account (@HistoryMuppet) totes itself as a “fan page dedicated to continuing the spirit and silliness of Jim Henson,” the late puppeteer and animator who created the Muppets and birthed many of the characters seen on Sesame Street, including Elmo and Big Bird.

Husband-and-wife duo Joshua and Holly Gillespie run the account and share the duty of promoting Henson’s legendary work through fun facts, old clips from Henson’s shows, and the occasional meme.

As BroBible notes, the Gillespies also run a Muppet History account on Instagram, where they have a following of nearly 580,000 users (their Twitter profile boasts around 283,000).

On Monday, a lengthy apology was posted to the Instagram and X accounts of Muppet History.

Though the words appeared genuine, they also lacked context and any mention of a direct offense perpetrated by the Gillespies.

“We wanted to take a moment to address some concerns that have arisen as of late,” the note begins. “Before we dive into these concerns, we thank you for your continued support and encouragement. We acknowledge that we are human and have made mistakes in the past.”

After noting that they are always open to personal growth and knowledge through “understanding and grace,” they continued to offer words of acknowledgment – but never truly acknowledged anything.

“We extend our most sincere apologies to those whom we have hurt, either through this platform or personal platforms,” the note later states.

“There has been a series in which boundaries with friends and viewers through messaging were overstepped. In building this community we have been overly protective, confusing fellow fan accounts for competition.  To the people who [we] made uncomfortable by these actions, we have only ourselves to blame and ask for your forgiveness.”

With no mention of any wrongdoing in their apology, fans of the Muppet History accounts began to sleuth on their own to uncover what wasn’t being said.

Within hours, fans discovered screenshots of an alleged email from Joshua Gillespie to a woman named Megan, apologizing for making inappropriate comments to her.

“I apologize if my messages of playful flirting went too far,” the email reads, in part. “It was never my intention to make you uncomfortable.”

Megan, who appears to run another Muppet-related account on Instagram, can be seen commenting on the email through captions from her Instagram Story.

“I never ONCE ever, said anything that would give any indication that talking to me like that was appropriate, funny to me, or encouraged,” her response states.

In another screenshot, Megan messages Joshua’s wife, Holly, to inform her of her husband’s unsavory actions.

As the day went on, other screenshots from Megan’s Instagram DMs began to appear on social media timelines, revealing that Joshua was a “serial harasser of women.”

In one capture from Megan’s Instagram profile (@malonespops), a user thanks her for sharing her truth regarding Joshua and confesses that they are also a victim.

“Thank you for using your voice to speak out about Joshua/Muppet History,” the DM reads.

“I was one of his targets myself and it was super scary for me because I felt so alone and so afraid to speak up about it. I worried no one would believe me.”

Another person tells Megan that Gillespie has sent “sexual jokes” to them and three other people that they know.

“I am trying to figure out how many people have been targeted by this,” they say.

In another caption over the screenshot, Megan states that she will continue to use her platform to reveal Joshua’s dirty deeds.

“Whether it was sexual abuse or misconduct or bullying people in the [Muppet] community, I will not let him reduce it to nothing,” she says.

In the hours and days following the Gillespie’s joint statement, neither the Muppet History Instagram account or X account has been updated.

Likewise, posts from the Gillispie’s personal social media accounts have also ceased.

In one of the last tweets published from Joshua’s personal X account, Holly assures fans that her husband is “safe.”

“Thank you all for your concern,” it reads.