Will Apu be deported or die from a drug overdose? Update to this story.
Via NME:
The Simpsons have confirmed that controversial character Apu will be cut out of future episodes.
The long-running show has come under fire for it’s depiction of Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, with viewers complaining that the character promotes racist stereotypes of people of Indian and Asian descent.
Apu first appeared in The Simpsons episode ‘The Telltale Head’ in 1990, voiced by white actor Hank Azaria.
The Simpsons producer Adi Shankar spoke to IndieWire about his attempts to crowdsource a script that tackled the ‘Apu Problem’, which has now been rejected as the character is to be dropped from the show.
I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” he said. “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 sees the decision as a mistake, saying: “If you are a show about cultural commentary and you are too afraid to comment on the culture, especially when it’s a component of the culture you had a hand in creating, then you are a show about cowardice.
“It’s not a step forward, or step backwards, it’s just a massive step sideways. After having read all these wonderful scripts, I feel like sidestepping this issue doesn’t solve it when the whole purpose of art, I would argue, is to bring us together.”