Tom Kenny Reflects on His Comments About SpongeBob Being 'Autistic' Going Public: 'I'm Not a Medical Doctor'

Kenny recalled telling a young fan that SpongeBob is "autistic" during a Q&A at Motor City Comic Con in Detroit

Voice actor Tom Kenny is reflecting on the comments he made about SpongeBob having autism going public.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly on Friday, July 26, at the site's San Diego Comic-Con video suite event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants, Kenny — who has voiced the character since the show's first episode in 1999 — addressed comments he made days before about his character being "autistic" being picked up by the media.

"I'm not a medical doctor, and SpongeBob is imaginary, an imaginary character, so I'm not really qualified to speak," Kenny, 62, told EW.

"But yeah, a young person with autism who is on the spectrum said to me — basically he was asking me, 'I'm like this, is SpongeBob like me?' And I said, 'Yeah, he is. SpongeBob's a lot like you. You guys are the same and you're both awesome.' "

Kenny made the original comments days before at the 2024 Motor City Comic Con in Detroit during a Q&A session, recalling a previous interaction with a fan who appeared to be on the autism spectrum asking him if the animated sponge is autistic.

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"That was a nice moment and I never meant for it to go public or anything. It was just kind of this private moment that I had with a fan, but it seems like it's been empowering and helpful to people out there," Kenny added to EW on Friday.

“SpongeBob's kind of on the spectrum too as a character,” Kenny said in his original comments, posted on YouTube by the account @BigBlueGlasses. "It was the first time I’d ever been asked this question — 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?’ ”

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He recalled answering, “Of course!” and added, “I said, ‘You know what? That's his superpower, the same way that’s your superpower.' "

Kenny has spoken about the idea of SpongeBob's neurodivergence in the past, saying on Marc Maron's WTF podcast in 2012: "I don't know what there is in that show that talks to kids that are on the autism spectrum, but more than other cartoons... because SpongeBob as a character is a little autistic."

"Obsessed with his job, very hardworking, gets really really deep into something," he explained at the time.

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