It seems that The Simpsons may be about to say goodbye to one of Springfield’s longest serving residents, with reports circulating that the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is set to be dropped from the show.
The character – voiced by Hank Azaria – became a topic of dbate last year when he was branded as a racist caricature by comedian Hari Kondabolu in his documentary The Problem With Apu, with Kandabolu stating that: “Everything with Apu is like this running joke. And the running joke is that he’s Indian.”
Well, according to Hollywood producer Adi Shankar (The Grey), the decision has now been made to axe the Kwik-E-Mart owner, with Shankar telling IndieWire: “They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether. 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.”
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening had stated earlier this year that he was unwilling to drop Apu, saying: “I love the character, and it makes me feel bad that it makes other people feel bad. But on the other hand, it’s tainted now — the conversation, there’s no nuance to the conversation now. It seems very, very clunky.”
What do you make of this news? Is it the right decision to drop Apu? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…
