On Friday, producers for both The Simpsons and Family Guy, two of the longest running animated series on television, announced that they would no longer use white voice actors to play non-white rules.
Mike Henry, who plays the role of Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, agreed that his character should be played by a black actor. “It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on ‘Family Guy’ for 20 years,” Henry tweeted. “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.”
Henry, who has written for The Simpsons, co-created and starred in the spinoff The Cleveland Show, which aired for four seasons. He also voices another black character, Cleveland's stepson Rallo Tubbs, who occasionally appears on Family Guy.
Meanwhile, on The Simpsons, producers issued a statement that said they would no longer use white actors to voice nonwhite characters. The show, which just ended its 31st season, has been criticized in the past for its stereotypical portrayal of Indian-American characters. Hank Azaria, who voiced the character Apu, an Indian convenience store owner, announced earlier this year he would no longer play the character.
The announcements are a response to the heightened awareness of systemic racism in American society, which has been evidenced by the killings of black Americans by law enforcement. Earlier this week, Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell, both white actresses, said that they would stop playing biracial characters on animated shows.
Slate, who voiced the character Missy on Big Mouth, said she was “engaging in an act of erasure of Black people” by playing the role. Bell, who voiced the character Molly on Central Park, believes that casting “a mixed-race character with a white actress” had undercut “the specificity of the mixed race and Black American experience.”
The Simpsons has several supporting black characters whose roles are voiced by white actors, including Homer’s workmate, Carl Carlson, and the family physician, Dr. Hibbert. The show hasn’t yet revealed who will play these characters.
Family Guy also features a number of nonwhite characters who are voiced by white actors, like Tricia Takanawa, a Japanese-American news reporter played by Alex Borstein. It is also unclear how these roles will be recast.