Surprising absolutely no one on earth, the viral rumor that the Church of Scientology was in talks with The Jim Henson Company to purchase their historic studio lot in Los Angeles is false, as reported by Deadline.
According to said Deadline article, a spokesperson for the Henson family clarified: “In regards to recent rumors about the sale of the La Brea studio lot, the Henson family is not in any business dealings with the Church of Scientology, and that organization is not in consideration as a potential buyer of the property.”
Pretty clear, right?
Well, we don’t take chances here at ToughPigs, the most trusted name in make-believe puppet journalism, so let’s clarify this further:
- The Jim Henson Company does not own The Muppets, despite their spiffy Kermit statue.
- Disney owns The Muppets, including Kermit, and has nothing to do with any of this.
- Henson is interested in moving to a new location to give their Creature Shop enough space and put it on the same property as their offices. Of course, this does entail selling the current property, but that’s not a bad thing. We don’t know yet where exactly they’re looking to go, or who’s interested in buying their studio lot.
- Selling the studio lot would not entail selling their intellectual property, which includes lots of neat stuff.
- The Muppet Show was not made there, but some Charlie Chaplin movies were. No one showed up on social media to defend Charlie Chaplin.
- There is no indication that the Church of Scientology was ever interested in buying the property.
- There is no indication that Tex Richman is a member of the Church of Scientology.
Click here to give an evil monologue about the sweet, sweet oil under the Church of Scientology on the ToughPigs Discord.
by J.D. Hansel
