White voice actor Mike Henry announced he’d step down from his role as Cleveland, a Black character, on Fox’s “Family Guy.”
“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years,” Henry, who also played in the spin-off “The Cleveland Show,” tweeted. “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.”
Not everyone praised the gesture.
“It's called acting. He's not a real person, he's animated. What's next, they gonna cancel @SethMacFarlane because he’s not a dog?” fumed one Twitter poster.
But a Henry defender responded: “Dogs aren't a group of persons that has had a long history of being denied opportunities to represent themselves in mainstream culture.”
Another added: “He's not being forced to do it, he's choosing to do it, it's his voice so it's his choice”
A poster who identified himself as a Black voice actor added: “I don't think this is necessary. I appreciate the sentiment behind it but I don't think you should do this. This is your most iconic role! That's the beauty of voice acting, the actor's appearance (including skin color) DOES NOT MATTER.”
“Now look if you feel like it's the right thing to do then by all means,” he tweeted in a second post. “I just don't want VAs to feel guilty for playing a character that doesn't resonate with their own race/beliefs/sexual orientation/etc. As long as you portray those characters respectfully, then it's ok.”
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