Posted on 02/23/2021 6:43:42 AM PST by Red Badger
Kevin Michael Richardson will take over the role of Dr. Julius Hibbert in future episodes of the show. The Simpsons is making another move to diversify its voice cast.
Harry Shearer, a member of the long-running Fox animated series' core cast, will stop voicing Dr. Julius Hibbert, who is Black, on the show. Sunday's episode, "DiaryQueen," featured Shearer providing the character's voice for the final time.
Starting with the Feb. 28 episode, "Wad Goals," Kevin Michael Richardson will take over as Dr. Hibbert. Richardson is a prolific voice actor who has worked on more than 70 Simpsons episodes in the past; his credits also include Family Guy, American Dad and F Is for Family.
Richardson's casting follows that of Alex Désert as Homer's (Dan Castellaneta) co-worker Carl Carlson (previously played by Hank Azaria) and Jenny Yokobori as Kumiko Albertson (previously voiced by Tress MacNeille), the wife of Comic Book Guy.
It also further makes good on a statement Simpsons producers made in June 2020, when they said that "Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters."
That statement came as the animation industry faced a reckoning over its record of inclusivity in the face of widespread social and racial justice protests last summer. Animated series including Netflix's Big Mouth and Apple's Central Park also made moves to recast BIPOC characters with actors of color, and Family Guy regular Mike Henry said he would no longer voice the character of Cleveland Brown, who's Black, on the show.
It also represented a major shift for The Simpsons, which for years had faced calls for a South Asian actor take over the role of Apu from Azaria (the character is the subject of The Problem With Apu, a 2017 documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu). Azaria has since stopped voicing Apu but continued to do voices for Carl and Springfield police officer Lou, who are Black, and Hispanic character Bumblebee Man. Shearer, meanwhile, had played Dr. Hibbert, who's Black, for the show's entire run. MacNeille has also voiced several non-white characters, including Apu's wife, Manjula.
Vulture first reported the news.
Privileged WHITE people, haven’t you heard?
They wont achieve real diversity until Iron Eyes Cody starts doing the Apu voice.
That would require thirteen more years!
It’s called hypocrisy
The original radio show was white guys.
The tv show had a black cast.
Iron Eyes Cody WAS AN ITALIAN.................................
I stopped watching regular in The early 90’s. And I found fans of the show to be very sophomoric. Even as 30 somethings. Still stuck i Jr. High, Both mentLly and socially
Good. He can voice Fat Tony as well.
At this point, what difference does it make?
God help us all!
The first 5-6 seasons were the best. After that, the show lost their best writers and lost heart. Besides, Shearer should just identify as black.
So television shows can cast people of color as white characters, but white actors can’t play characters who are people of color.
Okaaaaay.
And Hollyweird wonders why ratings and demos suck.
And the man who played Iron Eyes Cody was Italian-American!
Does Kevin Michael Richardson do anyone other then black voices? If so will he now stop?
What is a black voice anyways?
Will Harry Shearer give up all the residuals from the Simpsons episodes where he did not play a white person?
BTW what is a white voice?
What is the sound of one hand clapping?.....................
What’s the problem?
Shearer has just been acting less white.
I want to know when Warner Bros. is going to find Porcine-, Feline-, Canary-, or Chicken-American voice actors to play the Porky, Sylvester, Tweety or Foghorn Leghorn characters?
Also, did anyone notice how in the article when referring to the races of voice actors, black is capitalized by the author and white is not?
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