Hank Azaria has confessed that he was hesitant to leave his role as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons because he did not want to “cave” to the “woke mob.”
The Idol judge, 59, portrayed the Kwik-E-Mart cashier from the debut episode of the show in 1989 till he formally dropped the role in 2020 amid concerns that Apu promoted bad stereotypes.
Because of his exaggerated Indian accent, actress Priyanka Chopra Jones dubbed Apu “the bane of my life.”
Hank previously acknowledged to having a ‘blind spot’ for Apu, but he was originally conflicted about leaving a role he’d portrayed for nearly 30 years due to the criticism.
‘On the one hand, I didn’t want to cave to so-called “PC pressure” or “the woke mob” – whatever you want to call it,’ he told The Independent.
‘On the other hand, I didn’t want to continue to engage in a harmful practice if that’s what I was doing.’
Hank came upon a news item about a Middle Eastern store clerk’s attack while contemplating his future with Apu. The assailants mocked the cashier by calling him ‘Apu’ while beating him up.
In an interview with NPR earlier this year, Hank said that was only one of the major experiences that convinced him he needed to leave.
Hank now refuses to portray any character of colour in Springfield, including Homer’s drinking pal Carl Carlson Black and police officer Lou, both of whom are voiced by Alex Désert.
‘There was no public outcry over them. And they weren’t considered stereotypical or harmful in any way,’ he continued.
‘But I realised if nothing else, why am I taking the job away from an actor of colour with so much less opportunity than I have?’
Confirming he would no longer be voicing Apu back in 2020, at the time he told SlashFilm: ‘All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s some way to transition it or something.
‘What they’re going to do with the character is their call. 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.’
‘We all made the decision together. We all agreed on it. We all feel like it’s the right thing and good about it.’
The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK.