SpongeBob has autism, ‘that’s his superpower’ says voice actor Tom Kenny in viral clip
- Obsessed with his job, hard-working, has meltdowns, is blind to sarcasm, unable to read social cues – it all makes sense
American actor Tom Kenny is canonising a popular SpongeBob SquarePants fan theory.
“SpongeBob’s kind of on the spectrum, too, as a character,” he said during a May Q&A at Motor City Comic Con in Detroit. Footage of the Q&A reposted on July 23 on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has since gone viral.
During a panel discussion, Kenny recalled the first time he was pressed on the subject: “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 answered, “Of course!” and told the fan: “That’s his superpower, the same way that’s your superpower.”
Kenny previously spoke about SpongeBob’s neurodivergence in 2012 on a podcast, calling his character “a little autistic. Obsessed with his job, very hard-working, gets really really deep into something”.