--- description: Kondabolu's new documentary, 'The Problem With Apu', which features Aziz Ansari and The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi, is out Nov. 19. title: This Comedian Is Fed Up With The Simpsons’ Apu. Now He's Doing Something About It image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6ffb14c519f8fa/6988e5bb22fb850f7de23ab5/gettyimages-468306048.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Comedian Hari Kondablou Is Fed Up with the Stereotype of _The Simpsons'_ Apu by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2017 2:45 PM CUT  Apu tells Marge's congregation how they can collect enough money to repair their church in the 'Sky Police' episode of The Simpsons. Apu tells Marge's congregation how they can collect enough money to repair their church in the 'Sky Police' episode of The Simpsons.FOX—FOX via Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2017 2:45 PM CUT “I hate Apu.” That’s what _Designated Survivor_ actor Kal Penn tells comic Hari Kondabolu in the trailer for a new documentary called _The Problem With Apu_, out Nov. 19\. “And then because of that I disliked [_The Simpsons_](http://time.com/4964588/the-simpsons-puerto-rico-aid/ "undefined").” “I loved _The Simpsons_ because…” Kondabolu starts to reply, but his sentence is finished by Penn who tells him: “You hate yourself.” The problematic cartoon character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian immigrant in the fictional town of Springfield, where he is proprietor of the local Kwik-E-Mart, is at the heart of Kondabolu’s new documentary, which explores the stereotyped character and how his own childhood was lacking any realistic, positive South Asian role models in popular culture. The 35-year-old comedian from New York City was inspired to create the short film, which will be shown on TruTV Sunday, when a monologue he delivered about the troublesome character on the late night talk show _Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell_ went viral. “Growing up I had no choice but to like this,” he said on the talk show, gesturing to a photo of Apu. “A cartoon character voiced by Hank Azaria, a white guy. A white guy doing an impression of a white guy making fun of my father. If I saw Hank Azaria doing that voice at a party, I would kick the s–t out of him. Or I’d imagine kicking the s–t out of him.” Kondabolu’s amusing yet dispiriting segment quickly went viral. “It was all over the Internet and it was passed around in classrooms,” he told [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/lifelong-simpsons-fan-hari-kondabolu-explores-problem-apu-new-doc-n816216 "undefined"). “I didn’t expect it to have the impact that it made.” For the documentary, Kondabolu spoke to various influential Asian comedians and public figures like _Master of None_ creator and star Aziz Ansari and _The Daily Show_‘s Aasif Mandvi, as well as other significant people of color including Whoopi Goldberg. Many agreed that the portrayal of Apu was problematic and helped create a stereotypical and negative view of Asians. In an interview with [ABC](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/comedian-hari-kondabolu-takes-issue-simpsons-character-apu/story?id=51123836 "undefined"), Kondabolu said the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks helped enlighten him about the issues surrounding characters such as Apu. “What did I know from how South Asians were portrayed in the media \[prior to 9/11\]? Accents made people laugh,” he said. “We weren’t full people, we didn’t need to be full people, we just had to be caricatures. I wasn’t given many role models. … I know from watching _The Simpsons_ at least that if I used accents I would make people laugh, and that was what comedy was.” After 9/11, Kondabolu said he stopped using Asian accents as a vehicle to make his audience laugh. “Having a public stage is such a privilege — even at that level as an 18, 19 or 20-year-old with a college audience it was a privilege, and I knew that I had a voice and people would listen to it and there was some level of influence there,” he said. “Post 9/11, a lot of us woke up at the same time.” Watch a trailer for Kondabolu’s _The Problem With Apu_, out Nov. 19, below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5023017/hari-kondablou-the-problem-with-apu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5023017/hari-kondablou-the-problem-with-apu/"},"headline":"Comedian Hari Kondablou Is Fed Up with the Stereotype of The Simpsons' Apu","datePublished":"2017-11-14T14:45:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:22:29.601Z","description":"His new documentary, 'The Problem With Apu,' is out Nov. 19","url":"https://time.com/5023017/hari-kondablou-the-problem-with-apu/","keywords":["Television","The Simpsons","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6ffb14c519f8fa/6988e5bb22fb850f7de23ab5/gettyimages-468306048.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6ffb14c519f8fa/6988e5bb22fb850f7de23ab5/gettyimages-468306048.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FOX's \"The Simpsons\" - Apu and Marge","caption":"FOX's \"The Simpsons\" - Apu Nahasapeemapetilon","creditText":"FOX—FOX via 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":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5023017/hari-kondablou-the-problem-with-apu/","name":"Comedian Hari Kondablou Is Fed Up with the Stereotype of The Simpsons' Apu"}}]}] ```