--- title: The Simpsons Hank Azaria Responds to Criticisms of Apu description: Hank Azaria, the voice of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons, responded to claims that the popular character is an offensive stereotype canonical: https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-04T18:31:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:26.118Z og:title: The Simpsons' Hank Azaria Addresses Criticism of Apu og:description: 'We’re just really thinking… it’s a lot to digest.' og:url: https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2dc92d01e3ec9fd/6988f37c97cdff84406b3796/hank-azaria-apu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: FYC Event For IFC's "Brockmire" And "Documentary Now!" - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Simpsons' Hank Azaria Addresses Criticism of Apu twitter:description: 'We’re just really thinking… it’s a lot to digest.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2dc92d01e3ec9fd/6988f37c97cdff84406b3796/hank-azaria-apu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Simpsons'_ Hank Azaria Responds to Criticism of the Stereotype of Apu > Sponsored content. 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Priyanka Chopra on Breaking out of the Bollywood Stereotype_ by [Nick Reilly / NME](https://time.com/author/nme/) ## Nick Reilly / NME Dec 4, 2017 6:31 PM UTC  Actor Hank Azaria arrives at the FYC event for IFC's 'Brockmire' and Documentary Now!' at Saban Media Center on May 31, 2017 in North Hollywood, Calif. Actor Hank Azaria arrives at the FYC event for IFC's 'Brockmire' and Documentary Now!' at Saban Media Center on May 31, 2017 in North Hollywood, Calif. Matt Winkelmeyer—Getty Images by [Nick Reilly / NME](https://time.com/author/nme/) ## Nick Reilly / NME Dec 4, 2017 6:31 PM UTC Hank Azaria, the voice of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on _The Simpsons_, has responded to claims that the popular character is an offensive stereotype to people of Indian and Asian descent. Last month, [US documentary _The Problem With Apu_ followed comedian Hari Kondabolu ](http://www.nme.com/news/tv/new-documentary-asks-simpsons-apu-offensive-racist-stereotype-2159199)as he interviewed figures from the world of entertainment including Aziz Ansari and Whoopi Goldberg and Kal Penn in order to gauge if the portrayal of the animated character can be considered offensive. Now, Azaria has responded for the first time and admitted that the claims have had an emotional toll on him. “It’s really upsetting that \[Apu\] was offensive or hurtful to anybody”, [he told TMZ.](http://www.tmz.com/2017/12/03/hank-azaria-apu-voice-racist-documentary-the-simpsons/) Azaria, who also voices Chief Wiggum and Moe Szylak, gave credit to the documentary for making “some really interesting points” and revealed that it has provided “a lot for The Simpsons to think about”. He added: “we’re just really thinking… it’s a lot to digest.” In the documentary, Kondabolu described how many elements of Apu’s character could be seen as racial stereotypes – including his status as a convenience store owner who has fathered many children. “The Simpsons is an important work of art that has influenced so many, including myself. Apu was the only Indian we had on TV at all so I was happy for any representation as a kid. And of course he’s funny, but that doesn’t mean this representation is accurate or right or righteous”, Kondabolu said. “It gets to the insidiousness of racism, though, because you don’t even notice it when it’s right in front of you. It becomes so normal that you don’t even think about it. It seeps into our language to the point we don’t even question it because it seems like it’s just been that way forever.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.nme.com/news/tv/the-simpsons-hank-azaria-responds-to-claims-that-apu-promotes-racist-stereotypes-2167804) _originally appeared on_ [_NME.com_](http://nme.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/"},"headline":"The Simpsons' Hank Azaria Responds to Criticism of the Stereotype of Apu","datePublished":"2017-12-04T18:31:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:26.118Z","description":"“We’re just really thinking… it’s a lot to digest”","url":"https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2dc92d01e3ec9fd/6988f37c97cdff84406b3796/hank-azaria-apu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nick Reilly / NME"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd2dc92d01e3ec9fd/6988f37c97cdff84406b3796/hank-azaria-apu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FYC Event For IFC's \"Brockmire\" And \"Documentary Now!\" - Arrivals","caption":"FYC Event For IFC's \"Brockmire\" And \"Documentary Now!\" - Arrivals","creditText":"Matt Winkelmeyer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/","name":"The Simpsons' Hank Azaria Responds to Criticism of the Stereotype of Apu"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME 100: Priyanka Chopra","description":"Priyanka Chopra on Breaking out of the Bollywood Stereotype","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mxwifpoU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-15T15:59:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mxwifpoU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/","duration":"PT4M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```