Hank Azaria Apologises for Indian Character Apu on The Simpsons

Hank Azaria apologises for voicing the Indian character Apu on long-running American television series The Simpsons.

Hank had played the convenience store owner on the show since 1990, but in January 2020 announced he was stepping down from the role. The character of Apu has received much criticism for years for reinforcing racial stereotypes. As a white man, Hank felt it inappropriate that he should continue to voice the character.

The actor said: “Part of me feels like I need to go around to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise.”

Pressure began mounting on the show in 2017, when Indian-American comic Hari Kondabolu made a documentary saying the character of Apu was founded on racial stereotypes.

At first, Hank was unsure whether to stop doing the voice or not. He was conscious of not wanting to make a “knee-jerk reaction” to what could have been just a tiny minority of people believing this. He had after all been voicing the character for the last 31 years.

Over the next few years he continued to do the work, but also did his own research on the subject. He spoke to people who knew a lot about racism, and to lots of Indian people. He also read up on the matter and went to seminars.

A part of Structural Racism

Hank insists the Apu character was created with good intentions all those years ago. But he realises the show was part of “structural racism”. At the start he claims to not have known any better. He didn’t really think about it at the time. He was unaware how much relative advantage he received in this US as a white kid from Queens.

But just because there were good intentions, it doesn’t mean there weren’t real negative consequences. He holds himself accountable for his actions and the effect they’ve had. Hank thinks it’s important for people to know how sincerely apologetic he is for it now. He apologises for his part in creating and participating in it.

Change is Needed

The show initially tried to laugh off all the criticism it received. But in February this year, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening admitted change is needed.

One episode sees the character of Lisa look directly into the camera and say: “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?”

The show is now re-casting some of its characters, but are yet to find a new actor to play the part of Apu. Harry Shearer being replaced as the voice of Dr Hibbert by Kevin Michael Richardson. Richardson is best known for his voice work on other TV shows American Dad! and Family Guy. Matt says that “bigotry and racism are still an incredible problem and it’s good to finally go for more equality and representation” .

There are some people who think the move to change the voices is overly sensitive due to the fact the actors on the show play multiple characters. But the argument is that a character of colour or ethnicity should be voiced by a person of that race. This makes the character more authentic, and has the ability for the actor to bring their own cultural experience to the role.

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