Hank Azaria stops as Apu’s voice at The Simpsons

Hank Azaria will no longer speak as The Simpsons character Apu. The American voice actor has decided to stop after 30 years as the Indian retailer, he told SlashFilm.

The 55-year-old actor does not know whether the makers are now writing Apu from the animated series. “What they are going to do with the character is their decision. It is up to them and they have not figured it out yet. The only thing we have agreed on is that I no longer do the vote.”

Hank said earlier that he was prepared to stop following complaints about the stereotyping of Apu. The criticism and accusations of racism were partly fueled by the 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu, in which several people of South Asian descent told what it felt like to grow up with Apu as the only ‘South Asian’ role model on American television.

Sad

The actor was very interested in criticism and at the time said it was sad that people were even bullied with it. “That was certainly not my intention. I want to bring people joy and a smile.”

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening did not seem to care much about the commotion. “I’m proud of what we do in the show. I think we’re living in a time when people like to pretend to be offended.”