Hank Azariawill reportedly be stepping away fromthe character of ApuonThe Simpsons.
“All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s someway to transition it or something,” Azaria, 55, told the outlet.
“What they’re going to do with the character is their call,” the actor said. “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 anymore.”
Azaria added: “We all made the decision together. We all agreed on it. We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.”
Gary Gershoff/WireImage; FOX
Controversy has surrounded the character since the release of a 2017 documentary calledThe Problem with Apu, in which writer Hari Kondabolu argued Apu perpetuates racial stereotypes through mannerisms and an exaggerated accent. Apu has been a character on the Fox television series since 1990.
In April 2018, Azaria said during an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he waswilling to step away from the role.
“The idea that anybody, young or old, past or present, was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad. It was certainly not my intention. I wanted to spread laughter and joy with this character, and the idea that it’s brought pain and suffering in any way, that it was used to marginalize people, it’s upsetting. Genuinely,” the actor said.
“I am perfectly willing and happy to step aside or help transition it into something new,” Azaria added. “I really hope that’s whatThe Simpsonsdoes. It not only makes sense, but it just feels like the right thing to do to me.”
Slaven Vlasic/Getty
The Simpsonsaddressed the controversy on the show itself, during a 2018 episode that featured a scene of Marge reading a favorite childhood book with daughter Lisa. However, she suddenly found the story about a tyrannical slaveowner much more racist than she remembered and tried to edit it to fit modern standards of political correctness.
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Marge asked.
“It’s hard to say. Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Lisa responded, looking directly at the camera before the shot zoomed in on a photo of Apu with the message “Don’t have a cow.”
“Some things will be dealt with at a later date,” Marge said before Lisa added, “If at all.”
Fox
The responsedrew even more criticismas many fans thought the scene fell flat. Azaria told Colbert in the 2018 interview he had “nothing to do with the writing or voicing” of the scene.
“Apu doesn’t speak in that segment,” Azaria said. “It was a late addition that I saw right around the same time that everybody else in America did, so I didn’t know it was going to be in [the episode] until I saw it.”
“I think that if anybody came away from that segment feeling that they should lighten up or take a joke better or grow a thicker skin … that’s certainly not the way I feel about it,” he continued. “That’s definitely not the message that I want to send out.”
source: people.com
