The Apu debate has been raging ever since comedian Hari Kondabolu released his 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu, which pointed out the South Asian stereotypes perpetuated by the famed character from The Simpsons. Today, rumours have been swirling that The Simpsons have decided to write the character out of the show completely, and Kondabolu has responded.
Kondabolu posted two tweets — one earlier today, and one this evening. In the first, he expressed his opinion that The Simpsons could have addressed the issue head-on without simply axing the character. In the second, he lamented the impact the rumours are having on his mentions. He also retweeted a response to his initial tweet.
See his tweets below, plus the one he retweeted.
Today's rumours stem from an IndieWire interview in which film producer Adi Shankar said, "I got some disheartening news back, that I've verified from multiple sources now: 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."
Shankar said his info came from two people working on The Simpsons, plus someone who works alongside creator Matt Groening. Shankar isn't personally affiliated with The Simpsons, and the show hasn't publicly addressed these latest rumours.
After being called out, The Simpsons vaguely tackled the controversy in an episode, which only seemed to make things worse. We tried to ask Groening about the matter during an interview, but his publicist interjected and ended the phone call.
More recently, the controversy even made its way onto South Park.
Kondabolu posted two tweets — one earlier today, and one this evening. In the first, he expressed his opinion that The Simpsons could have addressed the issue head-on without simply axing the character. In the second, he lamented the impact the rumours are having on his mentions. He also retweeted a response to his initial tweet.
See his tweets below, plus the one he retweeted.
Agreed. There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks. https://t.co/czBDIvaTV0
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) October 26, 2018
RIP Apu. RIP My Mentions
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) October 27, 2018
Hari's doc was The Problem with Apu, not Let's Kill Apu. But people chose not to watch the doc because it would take away their excuse putting the blame entirely on him. https://t.co/gyBtbkc5S6
— (((Hervert Wist Re-Animator...))) (@hoover_wind) October 26, 2018
Today's rumours stem from an IndieWire interview in which film producer Adi Shankar said, "I got some disheartening news back, that I've verified from multiple sources now: 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."
Shankar said his info came from two people working on The Simpsons, plus someone who works alongside creator Matt Groening. Shankar isn't personally affiliated with The Simpsons, and the show hasn't publicly addressed these latest rumours.
After being called out, The Simpsons vaguely tackled the controversy in an episode, which only seemed to make things worse. We tried to ask Groening about the matter during an interview, but his publicist interjected and ended the phone call.
More recently, the controversy even made its way onto South Park.
