Tom Kenny is canonizing a popular SpongeBob SquarePants fan theory.
Kenny, who has voiced the animated series' star sponge since the show's premiere in 1999 and received two Daytime Emmy Awards for his performance, recently confirmed that his character has autism.
“SpongeBob is also on a spectrum, as a character,” he said during a Q&A in May at Motor City Comic Con in Detroit. Footage from the Q&A posted Tuesday on X has since gone viral.
During the panel, Kenny recalled the first time he was pressed on the topic: “A person who was obviously on the spectrum came up to me and said, ‘I have a question for you, Tom Kenny, is SpongeBob autistic? ’”
He replied, “Of course!” and told the fan, “That’s his superpower, just like it’s your superpower.”
Kenny previously spoke about SpongeBob's neurodivergence in 2012 on The “WTF” podcastand described his character as “a little bit autistic. Obsessed with his job, very hard-working, gets very, very involved in something.”
The fans have Similarly, he pointed out SpongeBob's meltdowns, blindness to sarcasm, and inability to read social cues are typical signs of a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Most likely the show's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, who died in 2018 — didn't intentionally write SpongeBob as a character who has autism, Kenny said. Bleeding fresh in 2017.
“But once you put [a creative work] “It has many different uses around the world,” the voice actor said, “and the topic of autism comes up so often that I wish someone would write a thesis or treatise on the subject.”
“SpongeBob SquarePants” is in its 14th season on Nickelodeon and has been Renewed for season 15.
The fourth spin-off film in the series, “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” — which follows the one from 2021 “The SpongeBob Movie: SpongeBob to the Rescue” — premieres August 2 on Netflix.
