Shearer’s exit comes about eight months after a June 2020 announcement in solidarity with the George Floyd protests that “The Simpsons” would no longer voice Black characters with white actors. “Moving forward, ‘The Simpsons’ will no longer have white actors voice nonwhite characters,” the network said in a brief statement at the time.
Dr. Hibbert is not the most notorious case of cross-racial voice casting on “The Simpsons.” That distinction goes to Apu, the Kwik-E-Mart owner originated and voiced for many years by Hank Azaria. Indian and Indian-American communities decried Apu as a racist stereotype and Azaria’s outsized accent as offensive. In 2017, stand-up comedian Hari Kondabolu made a feature documentary called “The Problem With Apu.” Azaria stepped aside from voicing Apu in January of 2020.
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“I think the most important thing is to listen to Indian people and their experience with it,” Azaria said at the time. “I really want to see Indian, South Asian writers in the writers room…including how [Apu] is voiced or not voiced. I’m perfectly willing to step aside. It just feels like the right thing to do to me…The idea that anyone young or old, past or present, being bullied based on Apu really makes me sad. It certainly was not my intention. I wanted to bring joy and laughter to people.”
Shearer is iconic to “The Simpsons” fans and Christopher Guest fans alike. He provides voices for Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, and many more. He famously co-wrote “This Is Spinal Tap” and has appeared in “Waiting For Guffman,” “A Mighty Wind,” and “For Your Consideration.”
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