Justin Briner, the English voice of Izuku “Deku” Midoriya in My Hero Academia, apologized on November 5 for telling a conservative commentator to die on election night.
My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero anime and manga set in a world where about 80% of people have superpowers called Quirks. Deku is the lead, a boy born without one who inherits power from his idol All Might and enrolls at a hero academy. The anime ran nine years, 181 episodes and four films before it ended in December 2025, and its final season won Anime of the Year at the 2026 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. Daiki Yamashita voices Deku in Japanese. Briner has voiced him in English since 2016, and his credits include Luck Voltia in Black Clover and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji in Classroom of the Elite.
On November 3, the verified X account Right Winged Angel (@RightWngdAngel), a conservative commentator, posted: “If Texas turns blue tonight, I’m prepared to relocate my family to Florida or Tennessee.” He added: “I’m not going to sit here and watch Texas slowly turn into a liberal sh*thole.” Briner replied from his verified account: “then simply die.” A screenshot of the reply showed about 1.7 million views, 66,000 likes and more than 5,000 reposts.
Two days later Briner posted an apology with replies limited to some accounts. He wrote: “During the heat of an intense political season, I made a comment on social media that I now regret.” He added: “I apologize and I hope that the temperature can come down for all of us.” The statement does not repeat the remark or name the commentator.
The commentator answered the same day. He wrote: “He only apologized because he got caught, and he never personally apologized to me or my family.”
The reply stands in contrast to Briner’s own public position in 2024. In May of that year, a convention attendee asked him about a fan pairing at his panel, and fans attacked the attendee online. Briner told them he did not condone cruelty or personal attacks and that he would never send fans after anyone on his behalf.
Briner’s dubbing credits run through 2026, including Witch Hat Atelier and Hana-Kimi. Crunchyroll distributes the English dub of My Hero Academia, and the apology came with no statement from the company.
Should a studio keep casting a lead actor who told a stranger to die over a post about moving?
I don't have to agree with what you say, but I will defend to my death, your right to free speech.
We all get mad during political season. If he hadn't apologized, I'd have a problem with it.
As it is..give the dude a break.