Was Teen Titans Go Voice Actor Greg Cipes Fired As Beast Boy? Here's What We Know

In recent days, social media has erupted due to actor Greg Cipes, who has been the voice of Beast Boy in the DC animated universe for more than 20 years, being allegedly fired from "Teen Titans Go!" following his Parkinson's diagnosis. Cipes originated the role in the 2003 "Teen Titans" cartoon series and has been doing it ever since. There has been a great deal of back-and-forth in the press involving Cipes and what really went down behind closed doors. So, what did actually go down? We're going to go over everything we know up to this point.

This all started when the Instagram account Gunnverse shared a post tagging DC Studios Co-head James Gunn, stating, "I had the pleasure of speaking with Greg Cipes, and he shared with me lots of upsetting details and information of how he was wrongfully terminated by [Warner Bros. Animation president Sam Register] while the other original actors get to keep their jobs." Cipes then responded to the post, stating, "Warner Brothers literally fired me on Valentine's Day right after I publicly shared my Parkinson's diagnosis," before adding, "It's like a death to me that only the fans can bring back to life."

Fans have understandably been vocal about the situation. On the surface, this isn't like Charlie Sheen being fired from "Two and a Half Men" over his erratic behavior. A loyal actor was allegedly fired from a show after nine seasons and a few movies after he was diagnosed with a debilitating disease. If that's truly what happened, Warner Bros. has some explaining to do. But there is some he said, they said going on here as well.

Multiple reports, including one from The Wrap, later offered some additional insight into the situation. According to that report and others, the producers of "Teen Titans Go!" approached Cipes about stepping down from the role due to alleged performance issues. Instead, to keep him involved, they offered to create a new character for him. Talks with his agent for a development deal then ensued to keep the actor involved with the show.

The Wrap's unnamed source insisted Cipes was not fired due to his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Rather, they cited his performance as not being "up to the level that producers needed for Beast Boy." Cipes is said to have recorded several scripts featuring the new character for "Teen Titans Go!" season 10, which is currently in the works. The development deal is reportedly still being negotiated.

A separate report from Deadline characterized Cipes' departure from the show as "creative differences," also stating that the role being recast had nothing to do with the actor's Parkinson's diagnosis. As of this writing, it hasn't been revealed who is taking over as Beast Boy. Back in April of this year, Cipes took to Instagram during Parkinson's Awareness Month to thank Warner Bros. for sticking by him:

"Huge thanks to Warner Brothers for keeping me working as the Beast boy I created for 25 years and throughout all this challenging Parkinson's health stuff. I'm feeling very good! Together let the light shine on Parkinson's awareness month!"

The timing of that post suggests that whatever happened between Cipes and Warner Bros. happened between May and September. All of this is also occurring as Gunn and DC Studios co-head Peter Safran are in the midst of launching the new DC Universe, which will include several movies per year, as well as live-action series, animated shows, and even video games.

"Teen Titans Go!" undoubtedly isn't canon within the DCU, but Gunn and Safran have plans for those characters, as a live-action "Teen Titans" movie is in active development at Warner Bros. Gunn has yet to respond to Cipes' alleged firing as of this writing, but if things continue to develop, it's not hard to see him weighing in on it in the future, be it of his own accord or during an interview.

Cipes has since commented on the matter further in response to the reporting that has surfaced since the situation first came to light. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, the actor relayed his side of the story, saying the following:

"I'm able to perform as the original Beast Boy voice that I created 23 years ago, even with my Parkinson's symptoms. All I need is a little extra time in the recording booth for extra takes. [...] If they wanted to keep working with me, they wouldn't have fired me as Beast Boy for getting sick with Parkinson's symptoms, and they would hire me back as bb right now to play my role. [...] The whole 'Teen Titans Go!' cast was outraged and has begged multiple times to Sam Register to keep me on as bb because they knew I could still perform as my Beast Boy. So, why hurt and destroy us all with breaking up the original team?"

Sam Register, as briefly mentioned earlier, is the president of Warner Bros. Animation, having produced everything from "Batman: The Killing Joke" to "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai." He's the top of the food chain when it comes to DC animation. Based on Cipes' telling, this was ultimately Register's decision and the rest of his castmates are none too pleased with it. Speaking further, he explained, from his view, the new role he was offered and how things have transpired since:

"[That was offered] to try and soften the blow of them firing me because I had Parkinson's challenges, and them hiring an impersonator to take over my role and pretend to mimic the voice that I created, instead of working with me with patience and understanding to make it work. Which would've been very easy, and still can be."

That's where things stand, but this is a developing situation. "Teen Titans Go!" season 10 doesn't currently have a release date, and it's unclear if this situation will be resolved to everyone's satisfaction before the show returns.