The debate over whether or not Bert and Ernie are or are not gay continues.
The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Brown Johnson, the executive vice president of the Sesame Workshop, to commemorate the show’s 50th anniversary.
Of course the conversation landed on one of Sesame Street’s hottest topics: are Bert and Ernie a committed gay couple?
“People can think whatever they want” about Bert and Ernie, Johnson told THR. “You want to think they’re gay? OK.”
If you think the icon roommates are just friends, that’s cool too: “You want to think they’re not gay? They’re not gay,” Johnson said.
Just last year, Mark Saltzman, a former Sesame Street writer, said he had used his own gay relationship as inspiration when writing scripts for Bert and Ernie sketches.
Saltzman worked on 31 episodes of the show that aired from 1985-1998, HuffPost reports.
“I was already with Arnie when I came to Sesame Street. So I don’t think I’d know how else to write them, but as a loving couple,” Saltzman said. “I wrote sketches … Arnie’s OCD would create friction with how chaotic I was. And that’s the Bert and Ernie dynamic.”
Sesame Street released a statement refuting Saltzman’s claims saying that the pair were just the best of friends.
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