'Futurama' voice actor John DiMaggio says entire cast should be paid more for revival: 'It's about self-respect'

• John DiMaggio turned down an offer to return as the robot Bender in Hulu's "Futurama" revival.
• DiMaggio said the entire cast deserves to be paid more.

The actor John DiMaggio has shared a statement regarding his decision not to reprise his voice role as the robot Bender in the upcoming revival of the cult animated series "Futurama."

Last week, multiple trade publications reported that a "Futurama" revival was in the works at Hulu, with the original show creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen returning, as well as much of the original cast.

DiMaggio, however, has yet to sign on. Earlier this week, Deadline reported that DiMaggio turned down an offer from the show's producers to appear on the revival because he did not feel the proposal was competitive based on the success of the original series. The revival announcement was made without his name attached.

"Bender is part of my soul and nothing about this is supposed to be disrespectful to the fans or my Futurama family," DiMaggio wrote in a statement posted on Twitter captioned "Update: #bendergate."

"It's about self-respect. And honestly, being tired of an industry that's become far too corporate and takes advantage of artists' time and talent."

DiMaggio continued to state that he believed the entire cast deserved to be paid more.

"Just to be clear, I don't think that only I deserve to be paid more, I think the entire cast does. Negotiations are a natural part of working in show business. Everyone has a different strategy and different boundaries. Their 'price'. Some accept offers, some hold their ground," he wrote.

DiMaggio concluded his Twitter statement by thanking everyone for "for the love" and offered some optimism for the future.

"Still hoping for the best," he wrote.

"Futurama" follows the adventures of a professional slacker called Philip J. Fry who is cryogenically frozen for 1000 years and is revived in the 31st century.

Production on the show's revival is set to begin in March, according to Variety. This will be the second time "Futurama" has been revived. The original show ended on Fox in 2003 after a four-season run. New episodes were produced by Comedy Central from 2010 to 2013.