“The Simpsons” Creator Responded To The Apu Backlash By Saying “People Love To Pretend They’re Offended” – By Marcus Jones (buzzfeed.com) / April 30 2018
Simpsons creator Matt Groening was dismissive about The Problem With Apu when asked about the controversy by USA Today.
In an interview with USA Today celebrating the fact The Simpsons is officially the longest-running scripted primetime show with 636 episodes and counting, Matt Groening finally responded to comedian Hari Kondabolu’s TruTV documentary, The Problem With Apu.
The documentary critiques the character’s depiction as a racist stereotype.
Groening says he doesn’t think much of Kondabolu’s criticism. “I’m proud of what we do on the show,” he said. “And I think it’s a time in our culture where people love to pretend they’re offended.”
Kondabolu responded to Groening’s interview on Twitter, saying it proves he did not watch the documentary.
Well, that seals it. Matt Groening finally responded & sounds like every other troll on the internet who didn’t see the documentary. No one is offended by this character. It was, at times, insulting & was frustrating to many of us who were solely represented by that one image. https://t.co/AfYNAeaU7Z
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) April 30, 2018
While Groening’s response falls in line with responses from other Simpsons writers, including Al Jean, Hank Azaria publicly apologized on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert for voicing the controversial character, and offered to step aside from the role of Apu.
.@HankAzaria addresses the controversy surrounding the character ‘Apu’ from @TheSimpsons. #LSSC #Apu #TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/pkmYgcX4Il
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) April 25, 2018
An April 8 episode of the Simpsons touched on the Apu controversy in a way many viewers found disappointing, but which hinted there’d be more to come on the subject. When asked by USA Today what that meant, Groening simply said, “We’ll let the show speak for itself.”
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Fox for comment.
