Has Simpson’s Apu Sold his Last Slurpee? Character May Be Eliminated

Some are already writing the obituary of Apu, the stereotypical and racist character on the Simpson’s.

Indie Wire reports that producer Adi Shankar has been told by multiple sources on the show that the character is being written out of the long running series.

Shakar has been running a contest to crowd source a script about Apu that would evolve the character into a realistic portrayal of Indian Americans.

He expressed disappointment that the character voiced by Hank Azaria may be eliminated, calling the news disheartening.

“I got some disheartening news back, that I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” said Shankar to Indie Wire. “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.”

The Apu character was the subject of a nationally televised documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu called The Problem with Apu. He too expressed disappointment about Apu’s probable demise.

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

“I don’t find Apu offensive, I find him annoying and insulting,” Kondabolu said to NBC. “But for me, one: It’s inaccurate. Two: It’s insulting to my parents. And three: When that’s the only depiction you have, that’s how the world sees you.”

Fox, which airs the long running animated series, told Indie Wire that Apu appeared just two weeks ago in the October 14 episode, but only in a crowd shot of dozens of people.
 
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