Mike Henry to stop voicing Black character on 'Family Guy'
The show was a spin-off from the long-running series "Family Guy." Henry, announced Friday, June 26, that he will no longer voice the black character Cleveland Brown on "Family Guy." (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)LOS ANGELES Family Guy voice actor Mike Henry said Friday he is stepping down from the role of Cleveland Brown on the Fox animated series. Henry wrote on Twitter that he will stop playing the shows main African American character because persons of color should play characters of color. The 54-year-old voice actor, who is a white man, has voiced the character since the series debut in 1999. Henry had also voiced the Latin maid named Consuela on the series.
Kristen Bell releases politically-themed book for children
The actress, and her friend Benjamin Hart, just released a children's book: "The World Needs More Purple People." The book is about Penny Purple, a child, who doesn't want to be "red" or "blue." Bell and Hart began writing two years ago, but Bell said now is the right time to bring the book out. As for why a politically-themed book was written for children, Bell told USA Today that "there's a high probability that if a child is reading this book, a parent is either near or reading it to them." She says the point of the book is to look for similarities in one another, rather than differences.