'Sesame Street' Exec Says It's Fine to Think Bert & Ernie are Gay

For decades, many have speculated if Bert and Ernie are...more than just friends and roommates. In a new feature from The Hollywood Reporter, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic children's show, a top executive from Sesame Workshop discussed the puppet's sexuality.

Brown Johnson, the executive vice president of the Sesame Workshop, addressed the speculation.

"People can think whatever they want [about Bert and Ernie]," he told THR. "You want to think they're gay? OK. You want to think they're not gay? They're not gay."

Last year producers of "Sesame Street" stressed that the puppets are not gay, however. In a tweet from Sesame Workshop, the company said that the show's characters may have human traits but "remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."

Fans asked why some puppets had girlfriends in the past, but the company did not respond.

In another tweet at the time, the company wrote "'Sesame Street' has always stood for inclusion and acceptance."

Those messages came after Mark Saltzman, a "Sesame Street" writer spoke with Queerty about writing scenes for Bert and Ernie, saying he "always felt that without a huge agenda" they were partners.

Frank Oz, who created Bert, also tweeted at the time that he and the Muppets creator Jim Henson "never created them to be gay."

Click here to check out the full piece from THR.