TV Debate: The Simpsons Finally Responded to the Problem With Apu UPDATE: Apu is GONE! Hank Azaria BIG APOLOGY

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TV News: Harry Shearer Will No Longer Voice Dr. Hibbert on The Simpsons, Kevin Michael Richardson takes over

Harry Shearer Will No Longer Voice Dr. Hibbert on The Simpsons By Megh Wright@megh_wright Old Hibbert, Hibbert, new Hibbert. Photo-Illustration: by Vulutre; Photos by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP/Shutterstock, FOX, Rob Latour/Invision/AP/Shutterstock After over 30 years of voicing a Black character...

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Harry Shearer Will No Longer Voice Dr. Hibbert on The Simpsons
By Megh Wright@megh_wright

Old Hibbert, Hibbert, new Hibbert. Photo-Illustration: by Vulutre; Photos by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP/Shutterstock, FOX, Rob Latour/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

After over 30 years of voicing a Black character on The Simpsons, white voice actor Harry Shearer is stepping away from the role. According to a representative at Fox, Shearer’s portrayal of the Black character Dr. Hibbert during last night’s season-32 episode “Diary Queen” marked the final time he will voice the character. Starting with the February 28 episode “Wad Goals,” Kevin Michael Richardson — who’s had voice roles on The Simpsons since 2009 and also has voiced parts on Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and American Dad — will take over the role of Dr. Hibbert permanently. Shearer had played Hibbert since the show’s second season in 1990, up through the show’s currently airing season 32; prior to last night’s episode he voiced the role in the episode “Podcast News,” which aired in November 2020. Shearer declined to comment on the recasting through a representative for the show.

The recasting of white voice actors playing characters of color gained new attention following the Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020, but the conversation about who gets to voice Simpsons characters has been happening since at least 2017, when the debate around Hank Azaria voicing the Indian character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon was highlighted in Hari Kondabolu’s documentary The Problem With Apu. Despite pushback on Kondabolu’s criticism from Simpsons creator Matt Groening (and a response on the show itself), Azaria decided to step down from the role in February 2020. “Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of,” he told the New York Times, “I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore. It just didn’t feel right.”


In June 2020, prior to the current season, the Simpsons producers released a statement: “Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters.” Since then, characters like Azaria’s Carl Carlson (now voiced by Alex Désert) and Tress MacNeille’s Kumiko Albertson (now voiced by Jenny Yokobori) have been recast. Shearer, however, is previously on record as disagreeing with the show’s stance on recasting POC roles voiced by white actors. “I have a very simple belief about acting,” he said in an August interview on Times Radio. “The job of the actor is to play someone who they’re not.” Shearer added that he thinks “there’s a conflation between representation, which is important,” adding, “People from all backgrounds should be represented in the writing and producing ends of the business so they help decide what stories to tell and with what knowledge … The job is playing someone I’m not.”

 

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The Simpsons creator Matt Groening says he's 'proud' of Apu, has plans for character post-controversy

By Rosy Cordero
March 21, 2021 at 06:11 PM EDT


The Simpsons creator Matt Groening is teasing plans for controversial character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, formerly voiced by Hank Azaria who stepped down after public outcry convinced producers to no longer have white actors play non-white characters.

"I think the Apu stories are fantastic, and he's one of the most nuanced characters on a silly two-dimensional cartoon show. So, yeah, I'm proud of Apu," Groening told USA Today when asked about the criticism that the character is a stereotype.

"I'm trying not to open up another chasm of criticism, but it doesn't matter what I say. I'll get it anyway," he continued.

While promoting the show's 700th episode airing this Sunday on Fox, Groening also said that while they have yet to find the right actor to voice Apu moving forward, "we're working on something kind of ambitious." He also said they've got plans for the character "but we have to see if we can make the stories work."

Producers announced in June that white actors will no longer voice non-white characters. Of the decision, Groening says it wasn't his idea but he's "fine with it."

He continued, "Who can be against diversity? So it's great. However, I will just say that the actors were not hired to play specific characters. They were hired to do whatever characters we thought of. To me, the amazing thing is seeing all our brilliant actors who can do multiple voices, do multiple voices. That's part of the fun of animation, However, to be more inclusive and hire more people, I'm completely in favor of that."

 

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Hank Azaria Might Just ‘Personally Apologize’ to Every Indian Person for Voicing Apu
By Halle Kiefer@hallekiefer

Photo: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

It’s been almost four years since comedian Hari Kondabolu released his documentary The Problem With Apu, bringing the issue of whitewashing and racist voice casting to the doorstep of actor Hank Azaria for his portrayal of The Simpsons’ Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. “I think the documentary made some really interesting points and gave us a lot to think about and we really are thinking about it,” Azaria said at the time.

“Definitely anybody that was hurt or offended by it, or by any character or vocal performance, it’s really upsetting that it was offensive or hurtful to anybody.” Now, having officially stepped away from the character last year, Azaria tells the podcast Armchair Expert that he feels like he might need “to go to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologize” for passing on “structural racism” through his portray of the Springfield Kwik-E-Mart owner since 1988.

So how did Azaria eventually come to understand that his decision to voice a character of color, particularly with a faux Indian accent, was wrong? In part by talking to young Indian people about the impact Apu has made on popular American culture. “I was speaking at my son’s school. I was talking to the Indian kids there because I wanted to get their input,” Azaria told hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “A 17-year-old boy … he’s never even seen The Simpsons, but knows what Apu means. It’s practically a slur at this point. All he knows is that is how his people are thought of, and represented, to many people in this country.”

Later in the episode Azaria told host Padman, who is herself Indian American, “I really do apologize. I know you weren’t asking for that, but it’s important. I apologize for my part in creating that and participating in that … Part of me feels like I need to go around to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologize, and sometimes I do when it comes up.”​

Now Azaria say he’s a proponent of non-racist casting, hiring BIPOC people to voice BIPOC characters; he’s also been replaced by actor Alex Désert as the voice of Carl Carlson, a Black character on The Simpsons. “If it’s an Indian character, or a Latinx character, or a Black character, please, let’s have that person voice the character,” he concludes. “It’s more authentic, they’ll bring their experience to it, and let’s not take jobs away from people who don’t have enough.” You can hear his entire Armchair Expert episode here.

Hank Azaria

Podcast Episode · Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard · 04/12/2021 · 1h 42m

podcasts.apple.com

 

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Artist Uses AI To Create Photorealistic Versions Of Disney And 'Simpsons' Characters

If Disney ever decides to do a live-action "Simpsons" spin-off, it may look something like this.

www.cartoonbrew.com

 

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Hank Azaria Makes Amends to Hari Kondabolu for Playing Apu

The actor definitely filmed this promo for Kondabolu’s special Vacation Baby of his own volition.

www.vulture.com

 

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The Black Simpsons

...sorry if this is a repost. I didnt feel like looking. These look dope

www.bgol.us

 

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The Simpsons stopped showing Homer choking Bart because times have changed!

 

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Mary Spuckler

Mary WrestleMania Spuckler is one of Cletus's many children. She is forced to marry Bart in order to save Lou. Bart and Mary end up not getting married but develop a genuine attraction which leads to an on-and-off romance. Their relationship has been explored in three episodes, making her the...

simpsons.fandom.com

 

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'The Simpsons' takes Sideshow Bob on a 'White Lotus' vacation in exclusive preview clip

Sideshow Bob returns to 'The Simpsons' for more sinister schemes and Bart beef. Watch an exclusive clip of voice star Kelsey Grammer as the fan-favorite villain at a 'White Lotus'-style resort.

ew.com