The Wire's Wendell Pierce wants to voice Cleveland Brown, and that would be great, thanks
As numerous TV episodes have been yanked from circulation over depictions of Blackface in recent weeks, the animated television space has also begun its long-overdue reckoning with racism. Both Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell announced that they would be stepping down from voicing Black characters in Big Mouth and Central Park, respectively, while The Simpsons has pledged to no longer have white actors voice characters of color (and it only took 31 seasons!). Family Guy voice actor Mike Henry has similarly resigned from his role on the long-running animated series, in which he plays Peter Griffin’s token Black friend. Henry, who also voiced the character in the spinoff The Cleveland Show, announced his decision last week, saying, “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.”