Almost two years after saying he was “perfectly willing and happy to step aside” as the voice of Apu on The Simpsons, star Hank Azaria will officially leave the controversial character behind. In a new interview with the New York Times, Azaria confirmed he will stop playing the role after three decades. “Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore,” Azaria said. “It just didn’t feel right.”
Azaria, who is white, has provided the voice of Apu, an Indian character on the animated series, since 1990. In recent years, however, The Simpsons has been widely criticized for its portrayal of Apu as a racist stereotype—with Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary, The Problem With Apu, bringing the issue to the forefront of the cultural conversation. Kondabolu first discussed the representational issues with Apu during a 2012 segment of W. Kamau Bell’s Totally Biased, which served as a launching point for the documentary.
“There’s now enough Indian people where I don’t need to like you just because you’re Indian,” Kondabolu said in 2012, highlighting a small influx of South Asian representation on television. “Because growing up, I had no choice but to like this: Apu, a cartoon character voiced by Hank Azaria, a white guy. A white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father. If I saw Hank Azaria do that voice at a party, I would kick the shit out of him. Or I’d imagine kicking the shit out of him.”
Eight years later, however, Kondabolu had positive things to say about Azaria in the wake of his decision. “Whatever happens with the character, to me, is secondary,” Kondabolu said to the Times. “I’m happy that Hank did the work that a lot of people wouldn’t have. I feel like he’s a really thoughtful person and he got the bigger picture.”
The Simpsons itself has long sought to avoid getting into deeper conversations about Apu. In a 2018 episode, the show’s producers responded to the controversy by having Lisa Simpson, often the Simpson family’s moral center, make a direct address to the audience about how to handle problematic art. “Something that started decades ago, and was applauded and inoffensive, is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” she said. On Lisa’s bedside table was a photograph of Apu. The picture’s caption read, “Don’t have a cow!”
Later that year, Azaria told Stephen Colbert he was not involved in the decision to frame the conversation around Apu as an issue of political correctness run amok. “If anybody came away from that segment feeling like they should lighten up or take a joke better or grow a thicker skin…that’s certainly not the way I feel about it, and that’s definitely not the message that I want to send them,” he said at the time. It was during that same interview where Azaria said he would be more than happy to stop playing Apu going forward.
“I’ve tried to express this before,” Azaria said. “You know, the idea that anybody was—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.”
Speaking to the New York Times, Azaria expanded on his epiphany about how Apu was received in pop culture, noting that if there was a similar character which played up Jewish stereotypes, he would be offended. (Azaria is Jewish.) “I started thinking, if that character were the only representation of Jewish people in American culture for 20 years, which was the case with Apu, I might not love that,” he said.
That Azaria will cease to voice Apu is not necessarily a surprise. Earlier this year, the actor told SlashFilm that he wouldn’t play the character any longer, “unless there’s some way to transition it or something.” Both in that interview and the new conversation with the New York Times, Azaria said the decision was a mutual one between himself and The Simpsons producers, including Al Jean, James L. Brooks, and Matt Groening, the show’s creator.
In a statement to the New York Times, however, the Simpsons executive team alluded to a transition of the character beyond its voice performer. “We respect Hank’s journey in regard to Apu. We have granted his wish to no longer voice the character. Apu is beloved worldwide. We love him too. Stay tuned.”
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