A film producer who hoped his crowdsourced script would be used in an episode of “The Simpsons” claims it isn’t happening because the show is planning to drop Indian-American character, Apu.
“The Simpsons” has faced recent scrutiny over its character Kwik-E-Mart owner, Apu, after recent accusations that he is an Indian stereotype.
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a convenience store owner voiced by Hank Azaria.
The character is being accused of inaccurately representing Indian-Americans after comedian Hari Kondabolu’s documentary ‘The Problem With Abu’ was released last year attacking the ”stereotypical portrayal.”
Film producer Adi Shankar alleges that Apu will soon be removed from the show after he reached out to Fox network attempting to bring a script to the show that would advance Apu’s character and reduce controversy.
He claims he was told eventually Apu’s character will simply be written out.
“I’ve verified from multiple sources now: They’re going to drop the Apu character altogether,” Shankar said.
“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,” he told IndieWire Friday.
Kondabolu surprisingly disagrees with the idea to cut Apu completely saying, “There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him.”
In the meantime, Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, has defended Apu’s character — and he’s not alone. Indian writer for BBC News, Soutik Biswas, wrote an editorial titled “Not All Indians Think Apu Is A Racist Stereotype,” defending the character.
Fans of the show are unhappy about the allegations, taking to Twitter to voice their opinions. One user wrote, “Deleting the character completely misses the point of how we need more South Asian representations to combat the fostered stereotypes.”
The Indian-American comedian says the animation caused him to be “made fun of at school on Monday, based on what Apu did in the last episode.”
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