Simpsons actor Hank Azaria has said he will no longer voice the character Apu, the subject of controversy over allegations of racism.
In Springfield, home to the yellow-hued satirical dysfunctional family for the past 30 years, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is an Indian migrant who owns a convenience store, the Kwik-E-Mart.
Azaria, who also voices characters such as bar owner Moe Szyslak, Comic Book Guy and police chief Clancy Wiggum, is white.
“All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice any more, unless there’s some way to transition it or something,” Azaria said, according to Slashfilm. “We all made the decision together. We all agreed on it. We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.”
Referring to the show’s makers, he added: “What they’re going to do with the character is their call. It’s up to them and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice any more.”
Simpsons creator Matt Groening is reported to have said Apu will remain on the show, which Variety said has been renewed for a 32nd season.
Apu, whose first appearance came on a season one episode called The Telltale Head, uses the catchphrase: “Thank you, come again.”
Criticism of the character heightened in 2017 with the release of a documentary by the comedian Hari Kondabolu, The Problem With Apu. Kondabolu argued that Apu’s character presented a negative stereotype of people from south Asia.
“There are a billion reasons to love The Simpsons and Apu was one of them,” Kondabolu told the Guardian then. “But when you sit in high school, which is, I think for most of us, the lowest point in our lives, you realize [Apu] was a tool for kids to go after you. And this was perfect, right? A caricature with this ridiculous accent that nobody has.
“And even though I grew up in Queens [in New York City], I still had the same vulnerabilities, and my parents were accented. I thought: how are they going to view my parents, how are they going to view me?”
Criticism of Apu is not universal. Writing for the Guardian in November 2018, for example, Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of Jacobin magazine, said that when he watched The Simpsons as a child, “to be represented at all seemed like progress”.
“My relationship with Apu was like my relationship with my Indian-born father or my Indo-Trinidadian mother,” he wrote. “Filled with moments of cringeworthy embarrassment … but also moments of pride and gratitude.
“Apu was an emotionally developed character, much more so than other Simpsons characters, he cared about his family and worked tirelessly to support them. He was also allowed to be zany and kooky – he wasn’t just there in the background, he had his own plot lines, he was neurotic, unique, not just a prop for diversity.”
Nonetheless, many south Asian actors have reported being called “Apu” or being mocked due to stereotypes presented by the character. Kal Penn, Hasan Minhaj, Sakina Jaffrey and Aparna Nancherla appeared in Kondabolu’s documentary, discussing how often they have been offered roles as convenience store workers or cab drivers.
While The Simpsons’ first response to the controversy was widely criticised, Azaria swiftly expressed willingness to step down from the controversial role.
“I think the most important thing is to listen to Indian people and their experience with it,” he told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. “Listening to voices means inclusion in the writers’ room. I really want to see Indian, south Asian writers in the writers’ room, genuinely informing whichever direction this character takes.
“I’m perfectly willing to step aside. It just feels like the right thing to do to me.”
On Friday, Kondabolu said on Twitter: “I do hope they keep the character [and] let a very talented writing staff do something interesting with him. If not to better the show, then to at least spare me some death threats.
“My documentary … was not made to get rid of a dated cartoon character, but to discuss race, representation [and] my community (which I love very much). It was also about how you can love something (like the Simpsons) [and] still be critical about aspects of it.
“Most people who saw the documentary like it [and] those that didn’t see it … hate it. You can see it on Amazon, truTV app [and] other places. Feel free to watch it by legal or illegal means. I don’t get paid more either way [and] it’s the message of the film that has the most value to me.”
Fox, which broadcasts The Simpsons, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nor did a manager for Kondabolu. Attempts to contact representatives for Azaria and Groening were not immediately successful.