‘The Simpsons’ will stop using white actors to voice characters of colour. 20th Century Fox Television
‘The Simpsons’ will stop using white actors to voice characters of colour. 20th Century Fox Television
‘The Simpsons’ will stop using white actors to voice characters of colour. 20th Century Fox Television
‘The Simpsons’ will stop using white actors to voice characters of colour. 20th Century Fox Television

The National

'The Simpsons' to stop using white actors to voice non-white characters

White voice actors from other animated shows, including ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Central Park’, have stepped back from roles

Razmig Bedirian
Razmig Bedirian

June 27, 2020

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  • Arabic

The Simpsons will stop using white actors to voice characters of colour, the producers of the animated comedy series announced.

"Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters," the show's producers said in a succinct statement on Friday, June 26, without elaborating on who will be cast to voice characters of colour.

The decision follows years of controversy regarding its portrayal of the show’s Indian convenience-store owner, Apu, who was voiced by Hank Azaria for 30 years.

Apu, an Indian character in 'The Simpsons', has been the source of controversy for years. Associated Press
Apu, an Indian character in 'The Simpsons', has been the source of controversy for years. Associated Press

Earlier this year, Azaria announced that he will no longer be portraying the character of Apu, following increased public pressure of the show's negative representation of Indian-Americans.

Azaria was also the voice behind other non-white characters on The Simpsons, including black police officer Lou and the Bumblebee Man, who is Mexican-American. Another black character on the show, Dr Hibbert, was also portrayed by a white actor, Harry Shearer. The show is one of Fox Network's most popular shows and syndicated in more than 100 countries.

Changes to be made across animated shows 

A number of white actors have recently announced that they will step back from voicing non-white characters on animated shows. Mike Henry, who has been the voice of Cleveland Brown, a black character on Family Guy for 20 years, announced that he will be stepping down from the role.

"It's been an honour to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years. I love this character, but persons of colour should play characters of colour," Henry tweeted on Saturday, June 27. Henry also voiced the character on the spin-off The Cleveland, which aired its final episode in 2013.

The Good Place star Kristen Bell also announced that she would no longer be portraying Molly, a mixed-race character in the Apple TV's new cartoon series Central Park, saying that doing so showed "a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege".

“Casting a mixed race character [with a] white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race and black American experience,” she said in her statement.

"It was wrong and we, on the Central Park team, are pledging to make it right. I am happy to relinquish this role to someone who can give a much more accurate portrayal and I will commit to learning, growing and doing my part for equality and inclusion."

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The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
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Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

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