The Simpsons Agrees to Say Goodbye to Apu

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Simpsons producer Adi Shankar has told Indiewire that a decision has been made to deal with the “Apu Problem.” After various tactics failed to produce a satisfactory solution (they tried ignoring the problem, they tried being resolute in support of the character, and they tried to be cute), sources have told Shankar (and he told Indiewire) that the series is going to drop the character altogether. ““They aren’t going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that,” Shankar told the publication, “but they’ll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy.”

The sources reportedly were two people who work for the longrunning Fox animated series, and one who works directly with the series creator Matt Groening.

two people who work for “The Simpsons” and a third source who works directly with creator Matt Groening. Indiewire contacted the show seeking a confirmation or denial and were told only “Apu appeared in the 10/14/18 episode ‘My Way or the Highway to Heaven.’”

If the sources are correct that the series is going to just brush Apu under the rug without any comment, they may still be the target of criticism. Shankar himself, who at one point ran a contest seeking spec scripts dealing with the Apu issue, says an unacknowledged retirement of the character without addressing the issue would be disappointing (sound familiar?).

Hari Kondabolu who brought the Apu controversy into the national conversation with his truTV doc “The Problem with Apu” was also unhappy with the result.

He reacted to the news on Twitter, agreeing with another Tweeter’s comment that “Deleting the character completely misses the point of how we need more South Asian representation to combat the fostered stereotypes!”

“There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him,” Kondabolu wrote. “If true, this sucks.”

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Interrobang Staff

Interrobang Staff