‘The Simpsons’ writer Al Jean responds to reports that Apu is being written out of the show
The Simpsons writer Al Jean has responded to claims 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.
Castlevania animator Adi Shankar spoke to IndieWire last week about his attempts to crowdsource a script that tackled the ‘Apu Problem’, and subsequently claimed that it had been rejected as the character is to be dropped from the show.
Shankar, who is not connected to The Simpsons, added: “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.”
However, longtime Simpsons scribe Al Jean has now distanced himself from the reports.
Posting on Twitter, he wrote: “Adi Shankar is not a producer on the Simpsons. I wish him the very best but he does not speak for our show.”
Hank Azaria, the actor who voices Apu, has previously said that he is willing to “step aside” following criticism over the character.
Shankar also expanded on his plan was to find a script that “takes a creation that was the byproduct of a predominately Harvard-educated white male writers’ room and transform it into a fresh, funny and realistic portrayal of Indians in America”.
He claims to have found the “perfect script”, but it is highly unlikely it will be used.