The Simpsons are reportedly set to drop Apu Nahasapeemapetilon after being accused of racial stereotyping.
It follows the 2017 documentary by Hari Kondabolu titled The Problem with Apu. and a competition ran by Indian-American film producer Adi Shankar to create a script which would skilfully remove Apu from the show.
Original creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening responded to the film saying he didn't really see the issue with Apu.
"I'm proud of what we do on the show. And I think it's a time in our culture where people love to pretend they're offended."
Hank Azaria who voices Apu spoke with talk show host Stephen Colbert on the issue, and said he would be happy to step aside and would like to see more inclusion in the writer's room.
But now the show appears to have done a full U-turn on the matter.
Consquence of Sound reports that according to Mr Shankar, many sources have told him that the show will be dropping Apu to put an end to the controversy.
When Fox was reached for comment, they said this wasn't true as Apu appeared - in a single shot - in an episode on October 14.
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Mr Shanker ran a competition earlier in the year for people to offer up scripts to skilfully write Apu out of the show.
"In a clever way subverts him, pivots him, writes him out, or evolves him in a way that takes a creation that was the by-product of a predominately Harvard-educated white male writers' room and transforms it into a fresh, funny and realistic portrayal of Indians in America."
He has also commented in response to the impeding end of Apu, saying that outright deleting the character would be a poor decision.
"If you are a show about cultural commentary and you are too afraid to comment on the culture, especially when it's a component of the culture you had a hand in creating, then you are a show about cowardice."
The script which won Mr Shanker's competition offered a better alternative to just removing Apu, but instead see him be a thriving businessman in Springfield and add more prominent Indian-Americans.
The episode will be produced through Adi Shankar's YouTube page, Bootleg Universe.
Newshub.
