Following in the footsteps of Jenny Slate, who announced earlier this week that she will no longer voice Missy, a biracial Black character, on Netflix’s Big Mouth, and Kristen Bell, who will be replaced as the voice of Molly, a biracial Black character on Central Park, Family Guy voice actor Mike Henry tweeted on Friday that he will no longer provide the voice of Cleveland Brown, Family Guy character turned star of his own Fox animated series, The Cleveland Show, from 2009 to 2013.
“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years,†Henry, who is white, posted to his personal Twitter. “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.â€
A part of the Family Guy cast since its debut in 1999, Henry voiced the mild-manner dad on Seth McFarlane’s hit comedy, as well as its spinoff series, which ran on Fox for four seasons. The character of Cleveland and his family returned to Family Guy in 2014, after The Cleveland Show’s cancellation, in the season-12 episode “He’s Bla-ack!†Henry has also voiced Consuela, a Latina maid, among other Family Guy characters.