Actor Wendell Pierce is petitioning to become the new voice of beloved Black cartoon character Cleveland Brown.
Pierce, of HBO’s The Wire fame, has launched a media campaign to be the new voice of Cleveland on “Family Guy” after Mike Henry, a white actor announced he would no longer voice the Black character.
“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on ‘Family Guy’ for 20 years,” Henry wrote on social media. “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.”
Henry’s decision follows on the heels of other white actors who gave up their roles playing Black cartoon characters.
Last week, Jenny Slate announced she was walking away from the series “Big Mouth” amid Black Lives Matter protests taking place around the world.
Pierce, pictured with actor Dominic West in a scene from The Wire, took to social media to stake his claim for the voiceover gig.
“Now that Mike Henry has consciously given up the role of Cleveland, I am publicly starting a campaign to voice the role myself on ‘The Cleveland Show.'”
“Family Guy” has aired over 300 episodes across 18 seasons of television. Fox renewed the series last month for its 19th season.
