The Simpsons ends white actors voicing characters of colour

Decision comes as entertainment industry comes under growing pressure to give more opportunities to non-white actors.

The Simpsons Movie - UK film premiere - Red Carpet
The Simpsons, a long-running animated series, was first launched in 1989 [Claire Greenway/Getty]

The Simpsons will no longer use white actors to dub ethnic minority characters, the producers of the long-running animated series have announced.

The decision, announced on Friday, includes a recurring character from the series – Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a grocer of Indian origin voiced in the American version of the show by white actor Hank Azaria.

The character has long been seen as problematic and conveying racist stereotypes.

Last January, Azaria announced that, in agreement with producers, he was abandoning the role.

“Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters,” Fox Studios said in a statement to AFP news agency.

The change will also affect the character of Dr Hibbert, a black man dubbed by the white actor Harry Shearer who also lends his voice to many other characters on the series – from Homer Simpson’s boss Mr Burns to the chirpy neighbour Ned Flanders.

Meanwhile, Mike Henry, the white actor who voices the black character of Cleveland Brown in Family Guy, another animated series produced by Fox, announced on Twitter that he was giving up the role.

“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years. I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role,” he wrote. 

Americans are in the midst of a reckoning on systemic racism and discrimination ignited by the killing of George Floyd, an African American man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25.

Source: News Agencies