Producers of ''The Simpsons'' will no longer allow white actors to voice characters of colour.

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US animated comedy series The Simpsons will no longer use white actors for the voices of characters from other ethnic backgrounds, the show's producers say.

The show, broadcast on Fox Network, has faced years of criticism over white actor Hank Azaria's voiceover of Indian-American character Apu.

Mr Azaria said earlier this year that he was stepping down from the role.

The entertainment industry has come under growing pressure to provide more opportunities for non-white performers.

Friday's announcement comes in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, which were sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd in US police custody on 25 May.

"Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters," the producers said in a short statement.

Other white US actors to announce that they will no longer be providing voiceovers for people of colour include Mike Henry and Kristen Bell.

Mr Henry provided the voice of black character Cleveland Brown in the animated series Family Guy for 20 years.

"I love this character, but persons of colour should play characters of colour," he tweeted on Friday.

Ms Bell, who provided the voice of Molly, a mixed-race child, in the cartoon series Central Park, said doing so displayed "a lack of awareness".

"Casting a mixed race character [with a] white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race and Black American experience," she added.

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