White actress Jenny Slate will stop voicing Missy, a character of color that she plays on the Netflix animated show Big Mouth.
“At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play ‘Missy’ because her mom is Jewish and white—as am I,” Slate wrote in an Instagram post.
“But ‘Missy’ is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people.”
We made a mistake, took our privilege for granted, and we’re working hard to do better moving nick kroll (@nickkroll) June 24, 2020
Kroll added that he and his team “are proud of the representation that Missy has offered cerebral, sensitive women of color, and we plan to continue that representation and further grow Missy’s character as we recast a new Black actor to play her.”
Last year, Netflix announced that it had renewed Big Mouth for three more seasons.
