Why Apu hasn't spoken a word in eight years on The Simpsons despite still being in show
Fans of The Simpsons have essentially been forced to say goodbye to beloved character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the last eight years, with the Kwik-E-Mart owner reduced to a non-speaking role.
Although it was teased that an episode in Season 36, titled Bart's Birthday could be well be the finale, a twist at the end revealed that we still have more to come from America's most well-known family.
Considering The Simpsons' habit of predicting things over the years, you would perhaps think they might have had the forethought to realise that a potentially racially insensitive character probably shouldn't be voiced by a white guy.
Remarkably, the writers predicted that Donald Trump would become president of the United States, as well as scarily accurate depictions of Lady Gaga's Super Bowl performance, the Coronavirus pandemic and the horse meat scandal.
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Matt Groening and the other writers have been delivering classic episodes for 35 years now, mainly with the same core cast of voice actors they started with.
Hank Azaria, who is also known for his role in Friends, is the man behind many classic characters including Chief Wiggum, Moe Szyslak and up until 2017, Apu.
The Indian supermarket owner featured in a number of classic episodes and while he often played into stereotypes, they also addressed topics such as deportation and arranged marriage.
However, a 2017 documentary titled The Problem with Apu criticised the Fox show for having Azaria voice the character, rather than a man of Indian heritage, and also raised concerns about the harm that his character was causing.
The last time Apu spoke in the show was in Season 29 in a Game of Thrones parody episode, which aired in 2017, just a month before The Problem with Apu was released. Azaria officially stepped down from his role in 2020.
The documentary was written by Hari Kondabolu, who had previously called Azaria 'a white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father' as part of a comedy show.
Following the documentary's release, the creators of The Simpsons reportedly 'froze' and realised that something needed to be done.
In an interview on Pablo Torre Finds Out, Azaria said: "It wasn’t like, 'Well, let me take a week and look into this'. It was probably two or three years because we all froze at The Simpsons. We had no idea what to do. The character stopped saying anything, and it became a deep dive into, 'Well, is this racist? Does Hollywood have a tradition of doing this? In one way or another, am I a part of that?'"
In episode 15 of Season 29, titled No Good Read Goes Unpunished Lisa attempts to respond to the documentary's claims that Apu's character was based on racial stereotypes, while giving a nod to the framed photo of the Indian character on her bedside table.
She says: "It's hard to say. Something that started a long time ago decades ago, that was applauded and was inoffensive, is now politically incorrect. What can you do?"
Azaria ultimately decided that the character was damaging and it was decided that he would stop voicing Apu.
He added: "Honestly, at first, I thought, 'Let me look into this, and then I’ll go back to doing the voice', and say, 'I understand, but I’m going to keep doing this'. I was surprised myself that I came down on, 'No, I think I’m participating in a harm here.'"
In 2021, on Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Expert podcast, the actor said: "Part of me feels like I need to go around to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise."
While Apu still plays a bit-part role in the show, his actor was never replaced and it seems as if fans will never hear from the beloved character again, which perhaps is not the scenario Hari Kondabolu was hoping for when he released his documentary.
Topics: The Simpsons, Racism
James Moorhouse