'The Simpsons' Will Reportedly Drop Apu From The Cast As More Comments Fuel Controversy

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There are multiple ways that people can handle controversy. You can tackle the issue head-on, addressing your situation, finding a solution, and moving forward with a plan. There’s also the opposite approach, where someone ignores the controversy, hoping that eventually it will fade away. Then you have option C, which is what the producers of “The Simpsons” seem to be doing — ignore the controversy, have actors publicly talk about the controversy (but ignore those solutions), make fun of the controversy, publicly dismiss the controversy, then hope people don’t get upset when you never address it again.

So far, when it comes to “The Simpsons” the Apu controversy, the series has seemed to do almost everything wrong, at least in the eyes of some outraged fans. As we mentioned, things regarding Apu reached a boiling point last season when the series decided to provide a meta-commentary on the situation, which enraged those upset by the treatment of the character. This was followed by the showrunner, Al Jean, providing some fuel to the fire on Twitter, then backtracking and apologizing after the damage was done.

READ MORE: Fox CEO Trusts The Producers Of ‘The Simpsons’ To Handle The Apu Controversy Themselves

Now, according to a third party (with supposed insider knowledge), “The Simpsons” will deal with the Apu controversy by just writing the character out of the show. And by writing him out, we really mean they will just not feature him in future episodes.

In an interview with IndieWire, Adi Shankar, a producer in Hollywood, says that he has spoken to two members of “The Simpsons” staff, as well as someone close to creator Matt Groening, who have all confirmed that Apu will be quietly written out of the long-running comedy series.

“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. “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.”

As news of Apu solution reached the Internet, people again became outraged. Many said that it was bad enough that the character had been voiced by a white person and treated as a harmful stereotype, but now he was just going to be forgotten. To that, showrunner Jean replied on Twitter, “Adi Shankar is not a producer on the Simpsons. I wish him the very best but he does not speak for our show.”

READ MORE: Report: Fox Studios Could Dissolve After Merger With Disney, With Major Films In Development Being Scrapped

Jean’s tweet was followed by a new comment from Shankar, saying, “I wish you well too. Let’s work towards common ground. Ignoring only fans the flames. The world is polarized & getting more so, and the onus is on us to bring people together. Engage in a constructive way and this matter will go to bed. I see you, now I’m asking you to see me.”

So, at the end of the day, we are back where we began — “The Simpsons” showrunner says nothing has been decided while the fans who were outraged wait for some sort of plan for the character. Or perhaps, Shankar is right and the grand plan that the series has is to just forget Apu exists and don’t reference him again. Maybe that’s option D?