(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Now that the white actor who played the role of Cleveland Brown on The Cleveland Show has quit, Wendell Pierce is publicly throwing his hat in the ring to take over as the voice of the beloved Black animated character.
“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years,” Mike Henry wrote on Twitter Friday, adding, “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color.
Wendell Pierce as Bunk, The Wire | Photo: HBO
READ MORE: ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Family Guy’ to stop casting White actors to voice minority characters
The 54-year-old, who is a white man, has voiced the character since the series debuted in 1999, and is also the voice behind a Latina maid named Consuela on the series.
But last week he stepped down from the role, following the lead of other white actors who have stepped down from voicing Black characters following the protests sparked by George Floyd‘s death.
Earlier that same day, Fox revealed that it will no longer have white actors voice characters of color on “The Simpsons.”