“Last night’s episode ‘DiaryQueen’ featured Harry Shearer as the voice of Dr. Hibbert for the last time,” 20th Television said in a statement. “Next Sunday’s episode ‘Wad Goals’ will have Kevin Michael Richardson voicing Dr. Hibbert — and from there on out he will voice the character.” Shearer voiced Dr. Hibbert since 1990. Voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, who is Black, already has extensive experience voicing characters on The Simpsons. The recasting comes after Fox said last June that The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters on the animated series. Last August, Shearer appeared to disagree with Fox's decision to recast The Simpsons' minority roles, telling Times Radio in the UK: "I have a very simple belief about acting. The job of the actor is to play someone who they are not. That's the gig, that's the job description."
TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Harry Shearer, Kevin Michael Richardson, African Americans and TV