‘The Simpsons’ says White actors will no longer voice non-White characters

“The Simpsons” will no longer use White actors to voice characters of color, the producers of the long-running animated television series announced Friday.

Similarly, a White actor who has provided the voice of a Black character on the animated series “Family Guy” for more than 20 years announced he would be retiring from that role.

Both announcements were made as the entertainment industry and others take action in response to rekindled calls for racial equality sparked by George Floyd’s killing last month.

“Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters,” the show said in a brief statement.

White actors have voiced several long-running characters of color on “The Simpsons” since the show first began airing in 1989. Hank Azaria has been the voice of characters including Carlton Carlson, a Black friend and colleague of Homer Simpson, and had previously voiced Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian-American convenience store clerk, until retiring from that role in 2017; Harry Shearer, the voice of characters including Homer Simpsons’ boss Mr. Burns, has long provided the voice of Black character Dr. Julius M. Hibbert.

The announcement from “The Simpsons” came shortly after Mike Henry, an actor on “Family Guy” since its debut in 1999, said he was done voicing the character of Cleveland Brown.

“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,” Mr. Henry wrote on Twitter.

Mr. Henry, 54, has voiced a handful of characters on “Family Guy” throughout its run and co-created and starred in “The Cleveland Show,” a spinoff starring the titular character that ran for several years.

Floyd, a Black man, was killed May 25 while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department in Minnesota, sparking global protests against systemic racism and police brutality.

Other television shows that have taken action in the aftermath including live-action sitcoms “Scrubs” and “30 Rock,” which both recently pulled older episodes featuring blackface.