Another twist in the story
Hackles were raised this past weekend when TV writer and producer Adi Shankar claimed that The Simpsons would be writing controversial character Apu out of the show.
The appropriateness of Apu, an Indian character who is voiced by white man Hank Azaria, has been reviewed in recent years — particularly following The Problem With Apu — a documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu.
“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 in an interview with IndieWire. “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.”
However, it looks like this might not be true after all. Al Jean, an executive producer on The Simpsons who has been the show’s showrunner for over 20 years, took to Twitter to throw cold water on the rumours.
In a brief tweet, Jean wrote: “Adi Shankar is not a producer on the Simpsons. I wish him the very best but he does not speak for our show”.
Adi Shankar is not a producer on the Simpsons. I wish him the very best but he does not speak for our show.
— Al Jean (@AlJean) October 28, 2018
