The rumor was declared by everyone from producers of the show to Cookie Monster himself to be untrue. Matt Lauer appeared on "Sesame Street" in a send-up of the "Today" show and confronted Cookie Monster about the rumors of his radical shift in diet. Cookie Monster accused the media of blowing the story way out of proportion, stating that he still loved cookies, but ate other things, such as fruit, as well. Cookie Monster also appeared on the "Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert to debunk the myth.
One of the main elements of the Veggie Monster rumors was that Cookie Monster's signature song and one of the series' most distinctive tunes, "C is for Cookie," would be replaced by "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food." In reality, this replacement did not happen. "A Cookie is a Sometimes Food," which teaches the need for a balanced diet, was sung on the show, but it was performed by the character Hoots the Owl, and not by Cookie Monster.
Cookie Monster and "Sesame Street" have a history of promoting healthier eating habits. Cookie Monster appears on a 1976 Milton Bradley puzzle eating fresh fruit. In 1987, two decades before the Veggie Monster rumors and media attention, Cookie Monster performed a rap song called "Healthy Food," in which he talked about the wide variety of foods needed to grow healthy and strong.
There is no reason to believe that Cookie Monster exists, or will exist, in any form other than the big, blue, cookie-loving one that "Sesame Street" viewers have always known. Sesame street will continue, as it has in the past, to point out that a diet of only cookies is not a good diet, and that kids must eat other things, too.