'Teen Titans' Voice Actor Claims Warner Bros Fired Him After He Revealed Parkinson's Diagnosis

In 2003, Cartoon Network unleashed Teen Titans, the show that gave us Robin’s permanent case of “team leader voice,” Starfire’s accidental malapropisms, and Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, the green shapeshifter who turned animal impressions into an art form.

The series churned out holiday specials, a feature-length film, and even snagged three Emmy nominations. Basically, it was Cartoon Network’s answer to Saturday morning cartoons—only this time Robin actually got to be cool.

The voice cast was stacked, with Scott Menville’s Robin perpetual teen-dad energy, Hynden Walch making Starfire’s broken alien-English both adorable and oddly profound, Tara Strong perfecting Raven’s monotone snark that warmed this writer’s little heart, and Khary Payton’s booming “Booyah!” as Cyborg rattling every kid’s TV speakers.

Cipes rounded out the lineup as Beast Boy, the tofu evangelist who could make a bad pun faster than he could morph into a gorilla.

Flash forward to March, when Cipes revealed he had been diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease.

On Instagram, he shared:

“First time sharing this part publicly on IG. Beast Boy and I love you all! Thank you all for the support and endless love. My Titans, friends, family and fans mean the world to me. 💚💚💚💚”

You can view the post below:

Cipes, a Coral Springs native and surfer at heart, has been a voice acting chameleon, doubling as Stinkfly in Ben 10, Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Tu in The Legend of Korra.

But after more than two decades as the green Titan, he says Warner Bros. fired him immediately after his diagnosis went public.

Fans were madder than when (spoiler alert) Beast Boy’s crush, Terra, was written into a landslide demise in the Season 2 finale.

DC superfan Emmanuel Newsome took to Instagram, tagging James Gunn like the Teen Titans’ own bat signal:

“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 Sam Register while the other original actors get to keep their jobs…”

The entire post can be seen here:

For context, Sam Register is the president of Warner Bros. Animation. Newsome called the move discriminatory and vowed to launch a petition to reinstate Cipes.

Cipes himself doubled down in the comments, writing:

“Warner Bros. literally fired me on Valentine’s Day right after I publicly shared my Parkinson’s diagnosis… It’s like a death to me that only the fans can bring back to life.”

However, a source close to the production told TheWrap that Cipes’ exit wasn’t tied to his diagnosis but to “performance issues.” Producers, they said, offered him a new character and even discussed a development deal to keep him in the franchise. According to the source, Cipes has already recorded a few scripts for that new role.

And to add to the controversy, Cipes has been known to advocate anti-vaccination and pseudoscience conspiracies on social media.

Still, Cipes hasn’t gone silent as green-faced fans rallied around him.

Social media quickly became Teen Titans, Whoa! as fans shared disbelief and frustration:

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Nearly one million Americans currently live with Parkinson’s disease, with about 90,000 new diagnoses every year. Globally, more than 8.5 million people are affected.

Cipes addressed the controversy in his most recent Instagram post:

He wrote in the caption:

"The whole Teen Titans go cast and I begged [Sam Register, Warner Bros Animation] to not fire me as beast boy and break up our family. I can still perform my role even while dealing with challenging Parkinson’s symptoms."

The fight here isn’t just about one voice actor—it’s about representation, empathy, and whether an industry built on superhero stories can act like one off-screen.

As for James Gunn—busy steering DC’s cinematic universe and producing Harley Quinn’s yet-to-be-announced sixth season—he hasn’t responded yet. But fans are already asking: if Gotham has room for Man-Bat, Calendar Man, and Polka-Dot Man, surely the OG Beast Boy of Teen Titans deserves better.