Hank Azaria Apologizes For Voicing Apu On ‘The Simpsons’, Calls For More Authentic Representation In Animation

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faced a reckoning over the diversity of its characters. The re-casting started with Azaria’s Apu, which the white actor agreed perpetuated harmful stereotypes about Indian Americans.“Tonight I make my debut on The Simpsons as gay, Cuban Julio,” Rodriguez, a longtime performer with the Upright Citizens Brigade, wrote on Instagram last month.

The Simpsons has recast another of its characters in an ongoing bid to increase the diversity of its cast to better represent the characters they’re playing.Julio, who many know as Marge Simpson’s hairdresser, has long been a part of the show’s LGBT+ community, having previously dated Waylon Smithers. Previously voiced by Hank Azaria, the character has now been recast.Moving forward, Tony Rodriguez will take on the role of Julio in order to accurately portray the character – both Julio and Rodriguez are gay Cuban men.“Tonight I make my debut on The Simpsons as gay, Cuban Julio,” Rodriguez wrote on Instagram last month, sharing his excitement at being cast.

A popular gay character on “The Simpsons” is getting a brand new voice.

over his publicly announced regret for voicing “The Simpsons” character Apu — penning his own tongue-in-cheek “apology.”“Not wishing to be left behind by Hank Azaria, I would like to apologise on behalf on Monty Python for all the many sketches we did making fun of white English people,” Cleese tweeted earlier this week. “We’re sorry for any distress we may have caused.”The 81-year-old comedy king’s post came the same day Azaria apologized for his stereotypical portrayal of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon — the fictitious Indian American owner of Springfield’s Kwik-E-Mart.“Part of me feels like I need to go to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologize,” Azaria said in a new interview.

John Cleese mocked "The Simpsons" actor Hank Azaria’s recent apology for the Apu character by jokingly apologizing for past Monty Python sketches.  Azaria found himself at the heart of controversy in 2017 when a documentary sparked a conversation about him, a White person, voicing the Indian-American character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on the show since 1989.The actor appeared on the "Armchair Expert" podcast recently where he apologized and expressed how much guilt he feels to have negatively impacted so many Indian-Americans with his performance.  On Tuesday, Cleese took to Twitter to take a lighthearted jab at Azaria for feeling like he should apologize.  "Not wishing to be left behind by Hank Azaria, I would like to apologise on behalf on

The Simpsons cast and crew members have explained how cult segment ‘Steamed Hams’ nearly launched a spinoff series.Reflecting on 25 years since the episode during which the segment aired, ’22 Short Films About Springfield’ first premiered, actor Hank Azaria and co-showrunners Al Jean, Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein recalled initial plans in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.“I don’t know why this captured people’s imaginations or what it is supposed to represent or what it means beyond face value. But, I get a kick out of it,” said Azaria, who voiced Superintendent Chalmers in the segment.The short clip saw Principal Skinner (voiced by Harry Shearer) try to impress his boss, Chalmers, during lunch at his home.

Hank Azaria has been doing the work. In 2017, the 56-year-old white voice actor was publicly called out for voicing the character of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (an Indian convenience store worker) on in a documentary titled . Azaria later stepped down from voicing the part — one of many he lends his talents to on the popular series.

ACTOR Hank Azaria has apologised for the Indian character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons after plenty of negative backlash. Emmy-award winning actor and comedian Hank discussed the controversy around his character on the much-loved animated comedy series.

who no longer voices the controversial character, says he’s taking some unconventional steps to find out why his portrayal was offensive toward the Indian community. “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 Shepard during Monday’s podcast.

Hank Azaria wants to apologize to every person of Indian descent for his past portrayal of "The Simpsons" character, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The character, who runs the local Kwik-E-Mart in Springfield and was voiced by Azaria beginning in 1988, became the subject of controversy in 2017 when comedian Hari Kondabolu released the documentary "The Problem With Apu." The documentary sparked a conversation about whitewashing, racist voice casting and the negative impact the character has had on the perception of Indian people in America.  In an interview with The New York Times in 2020, Azaria said he had stepped away from voicing the character as the show in general began to remedy having White actors voice non-White characters.

It was back in February 2020 when Hank Azaria spoke candidly in an interview with The New York Times about his decision to stop voicing The Simpsons' controversial character Kwik-E-Mart manager Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. "Once I realised that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore.

The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria has apologised for his longtime portrayal of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on the series, while also acknowledging the show’s participation in “structural racism”.In an appearance on Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Expert podcast, Azaria said that he wished he had stopped playing Apu earlier (he’d been voicing the role since 1990).“I’ve had a date with destiny with this thing for about 31 years,” Azaria said.“Part of me feels like I need to go around to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise, and sometimes I do when it comes up.”He apologised specifically to the podcast’s co-host Monica Padman, an Indian-American woman, saying, “I know you weren’t asking for that, but it’s important.“I

Hank Azaria was a recent guest on theArmchair Expert podcast, where he discussed several topics, including the lessons he learned from playing the controversial Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons. The long-running Indian character on the iconic Fox cartoon came under fire in recent years (including in a2017 documentary The Problem With Apu) due to the character's racially stereotypical behavior, compounded by the fact that he was voiced by aCaucasian actor.