‘The Simpsons’ Will No Longer Have White Actors Play Non-White Characters

After years of controversy over its Apu character, The Simpsons is officially putting an end to white actors playing non-white roles, Fox announced today.

“Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters,” the network said in a statement, per journalist Dave Itzkoff.

The announcement comes months after The Simpsons star Hank Azaria said in January that he would stop playing Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a character long-criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of South Asians and Indian-Americans.

“All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s someway to transition it or something,” Azaria said at the time. “What they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore.”

The Simpsons currently features another non-white character, Dr. Julius M. Hibbert, who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Shearer also voices Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy and Kent Brockman.

The announcement from The Simpsons comes shortly after Family Guy actor Mike Henry quit his role as Cleveland earlier today after playing the Black character since 1999.

“I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color,” he said on Twitter.

Also this week, Jenny Slate announced she was leaving her role as Missy on Netflix’s Big Mouth, and Kristen Bell said she was stepping away from Molly, her Central Park role. Both white actresses voiced mixed-race characters on their respective animated series.

“Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people,” Slate said in a statement June 24. “In me playing ‘Missy’ I was engaging in an act of erasure of Black people. Ending my portrayal of ‘Missy’ is one step in a life-long process of uncovering the racism in my actions.”

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