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“What they’re going to do with the character is their call,” Azaria said, according to /Film. “It’s up to them, and they haven’t sorted it out yet. All we’ve agreed on is I won’t do the voice anymore.”
The decision to remove Azaria from voicing Apu was mutual, the actor said, according to /Film.
“We all agreed on it,” he said. “We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.”
“My documentary ‘The Problem with Apu’ was not made to get rid of a dated cartoon character, but to discuss race, representation & my community (which I love very much),” Kondabolu wrote. “It was also about how you can love something (like the Simpsons) & still be critical about aspects of it (Apu).”
Fox, which airs the show, says “The Simpsons” has no comment.
Representatives for Azaria did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
Azaria criticized the show’s handling of the issue
In the episode, the young Lisa Simpson said, “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Lisa then glanced at a framed photograph of Apu inscribed with the message, “Don’t have a cow.”
“The idea that anybody — young or old, past or present — was bullied or teased based on the character of Apu, it just really makes me sad,” said Azaria, who voices other characters on the show.
“It was certainly not my intention,” he said. “I wanted to spread laughter and joy with this character, and the idea that it’s brought pain and suffering in any way, that it was used to marginalize people, it’s upsetting.”
CNN’s Lisa Respers France contributed to this report.
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