We May Be Saying Goodbye to Simpsons' Apu

A producer says 3 people connected to the show told him the character will be eliminated
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 29, 2018 1:33 PM CDT
Simpsons May Be Booting Apu
This image released by Fox shows the Apu from the animated series "The Simpsons." The character is the subject of a documentary called “The Problem With Apu,” airing on truTV on Nov. 19.   (Fox via AP)

The Simpsons character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, who has been criticized for promoting negative stereotypes about South Asians (and is voiced by white guy Hank Azaria), may be getting cut from the show. "I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether," producer Adi Shankar tells IndieWire, claiming he heard the news from two people who work on the show and a third person who works directly with creator Matt Groening. "They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy." Shankar was talking to IndieWire about Apu because he recently held a spec script contest for an episode dealing with the show's "Apu problem" and had been hoping Fox would agree to produce the script.

Reached for comment, a rep for the show told IndieWire simply that "Apu appeared in the 10/14/18 episode 'My Way or the Highway to Heaven.'" IndieWire notes that the only shot Apu appears in during the episode is one in which dozens of characters are gathered around God. Comedian Hari Kondabolu, who made a recent documentary about Apu, responded to the news by tweeting, "There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks." The Daily Dot rounds up other critical and mournful responses on Twitter. Shankar, producer of films including Dredd and The Grey and co-showrunner of Castlevania on Netflix, plans to produce the winning script (which sees Apu going from Kwik-E-Mart owner to thriving businessman) himself on his Bootleg Universe YouTube page. (Here's what Azaria thinks should happen with Apu.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X