Old Hibbert, Hibbert, new Hibbert.
Photo-illustration: by Vulutre; Pictures of Andy Kropa / Invision / AP / Shutterstock, FOX, Rob Latour / Invision / AP / Shutterstock
After more than 30 years giving voice to a black character in The Simpsons, white voice actor Harry Shearer is moving away from the role. According to a Fox representative, Shearer’s interpretation of the character Black Dr. Hibbert during last night’s season 32 episode “Diary Queen” marked the last time he will voice the character. Starting with the February 28 episode “Wad Goals”, Kevin Michael Richardson – who had voices in The Simpsons since 2009 and also voiced parts at Seth MacFarlane’s show Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and American Dad – will assume the role of Dr. Hibbert permanently. Shearer had played Hibbert from the show’s second season in 1990, until the show’s 32nd season; before last night’s episode, he voiced the role in the episode “Podcast News,” which aired in November 2020. Shearer declined to comment on the makeover via a program representative.
The redesign of white voice actors playing black characters gained new attention after the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020, but the conversation about who gives a voice Simpsons characters have been happening since at least 2017, when the debate over Hank Azaria giving voice to the Indian character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon was featured in the documentary by Hari Kondabolu The problem with Apu. Despite resistance to Kondabolu’s criticism of Simpsons creator Matt Groening (and a response on the show itself), Azaria decided to leave the role in February 2020. “As soon as I realized this was how this character was thought,” he told New York Times, “I just didn’t want to participate anymore. It just didn’t feel right. “
In June 2020, before the current season, the Simpsons producers released a statement: “Moving forward, The Simpsons there will no longer be white actors voicing non-white characters. ”Since then, characters like Carl Carlson de Azaria (now voiced by Alex Désert) and Kumiko Albertson by Tress MacNeille (now voiced by Jenny Yokobori) have been overhauled. Shearer, however, had previously registered as disagreeing with the show’s stance on the reformulation of POC roles voiced by white actors. “I have a very simple belief about acting,” he said in an August interview on Times Radio. “The actor’s job is to play someone he is not.” Shearer added that he thinks “there is a confusion between representation, which is important”, adding: “People from all backgrounds must be represented in the writing and production of business purposes, to help them decide which stories to tell and with what knowledge … work is to interpret someone I am not. “