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Tom Kenny reflects on saying SpongeBob SquarePants is autistic: 'I never meant for it to go public'

Voice actor Tom Kenny visited Entertainment Weekly's 2024 Comic-Con video suite to reflect on his recent comments about SpongeBob SquarePants being autistic: 'I never meant for it to go public.'

Tom Kenny stopped by Entertainment Weekly's 2024 Comic-Con video suite on Friday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the TV series along with the rest of the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants, and he reflected on how his quotes took off more than he expected a few days earlier. On Wednesday, a fan-captured video from the 2024 Motor City Comic Con in Detroit went viral after Kenny opened up about the first time he spoke about SpongeBob's neurodivergence with a fan. He previously said 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.

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