White voice over actors who stepped down from their roles as people of color

Following the George Floyd protests from last summer, the animation industry faced a reckoning to include more persons of color. In an effort to include more diversity, many white actors who were playing characters of different races animated shows stepped down from their roles. Here are several notable examples. Following the producers of “The Simpsons” announcement that non-white characters would no longer be played by white actors, Harry Shearer exited his role as Dr. Julius Hibbert and was replaced by Kevin Michael Richardson. The announcement from “The Simpsons” producers also led to Hank Azaria stepping down from his role as Carl. Azaria also announced earlier last year that he would also no longer voice the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. For example, check out the video.