“Family Guy” writer and producer Mike Henry announced Friday he would no longer voice Cleveland Brown, a Black character on the popular animated sitcom and a defunct spin-off series.
“I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color,” Henry said in a tweet on Friday afternoon. “Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.”
Henry has voiced Cleveland, one of the few recurring Black characters on “Family Guy,” since the show debuted on the Fox broadcast network in 1999.
He also played the character in “The Cleveland Show,” a spin-off that ran from 2009 to 2013 on Fox.
Henry’s decision comes just two days after actresses Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell announced they would no longer voice biracial cartoon characters, saying in separate statements that white privilege had allowed them to accept their roles.
Slate, who voices Missy on the Netflix series “Big Mouth,” said on Instagram early Wednesday that she would exit the role to make space for a Black actor.
Bell, who voices Molly on the Apple TV Plus series “Central Park,” said in a tweet Wednesday evening that playing the character showed a “lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege.”
“Casting a mixed race character w/a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race & Black American experience,” Bell added.
In its two decades on the air, “Family Guy” has regularly drawn criticism for storylines, jokes and characterizations that viewers and commentators found racist, misogynist or homophobic.
“The Cleveland Show” drew some its share of criticism, too. NPR critic David Bianculli once compared the series to the racist radio show “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” for example.
In recent weeks, entertainment and media industries have been reckoning with issues of diversity, inclusion and representation amid nationwide protests over systemic racism and inequality.
The co-creator of the NBC sitcom “30 Rock” made news this week as well, confirming episodes of the satirical series that feature characters in blackface would be pulled from syndication and streaming services.
