--- title: Simpsons Controversy Sparks Viral Story About Real-Life Apu description: After "The Problem With Apu," The Simpsons' responded to the controversy. Now, one man's story about a real-life Apu is going viral. canonical: https://time.com/5235065/the-simpsons-response-apu-controversy-viral-story/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-10T19:08:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:00.315Z og:title: Man's Story of Growing Up With Father Like Apu Goes Viral After 'Simpsons' Controversy og:description: "Everybody has an opinion about Apu" og:url: https://time.com/5235065/the-simpsons-response-apu-controversy-viral-story/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6ffb14c519f8fa/6988e5bb22fb850f7de23ab5/gettyimages-468306048.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: FOX's "The Simpsons" - Apu and Marge og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man's Story of Growing Up With Father Like Apu Goes Viral After 'Simpsons' Controversy twitter:description: "Everybody has an opinion about Apu" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6ffb14c519f8fa/6988e5bb22fb850f7de23ab5/gettyimages-468306048.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Man's Story of Growing Up With a Father Like Apu Goes Viral Following _The Simpsons_ Controversy > Sponsored content. 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FOX—FOX via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Apr 10, 2018 7:08 PM UTC In the wake of [_The Simpsons_‘ attempt](http://time.com/5232896/the-simpsons-respond-apu-controversy/) to address the [stereotyping controversy](http://time.com/5023017/hari-kondablou-the-problem-with-apu/) surrounding [Apu](http://time.com/5047539/simpsons-hank-azaria-apu-racist/), one man’s story of growing up with a father similar to the character is going viral. After Sunday’s episode of the animated comedy included a scene in which Marge and Lisa discussed political correctness in 2018 before the camera panned to a photo of Apu with the words, “Don’t have a cow,” written on it, the show was criticized by some who saw the response as dismissive. > [](https://twitter.com/soham%5Fburger/status/983200703660351488) The problematic nature of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon — an Indian immigrant who is the proprietor of the fictional town of Springfield’s local Kwik-E-Mart — was cast into the spotlight following the November release of comedian Hari Kondabolu’s documentary, _The Problem With Apu_ _._ Now, Twitter user Amar Shah is making waves with his own personal story of being raised by a father who owned a convenience store. “Everybody has an opinion about Apu, but did they ever talk to someone who owned a convenience store or gas station or work in one or grow up in one? You know, like my dad and I?” Shah tweeted on Monday. > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983457101786898438) Kondabolu later noted that he and his team had, in fact, interviewed Indian small business owners for the documentary, but the footage didn’t make the final cut. “Brother, thank you for sharing,” he wrote. “We interviewed Desi small business owners & it was left on the cutting room floor due to time. This still haunts me. There’s nothing wrong with working in a gas station or store. These stories should be told with the honesty & care you just showed.” Read Shah’s full story below. > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983457101786898438) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983458945451913216) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983460947531632642) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983461438680371200) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983461835620929537) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983462594378895360) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983463046566891520) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983463577200848896) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983464373023838208) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983464749026496512) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983465095803088896) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983465540223229953) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983466220530884608) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983466365892878337) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983467085987766273) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983467940350758913) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983468782814400512) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983469866664497152) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983470662978297856) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983471385841405953) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983471784820461569) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983472135883624448) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983472450456440832) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983473076313706496) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983473539213905920) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983484345460711424) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983542370573660160) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983543983115730944) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983559906455425024) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983560941177536512) > [](https://twitter.com/amarshahism/status/983561229024288769) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5235065/the-simpsons-response-apu-controversy-viral-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5235065/the-simpsons-response-apu-controversy-viral-story/"},"headline":"Man's Story of Growing Up With a Father Like Apu Goes Viral Following The Simpsons Controversy","datePublished":"2018-04-10T19:08:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:00.315Z","description":"\"Everybody has an opinion about Apu\"","url":"https://time.com/5235065/the-simpsons-response-apu-controversy-viral-story/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","viral","TV","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":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5235065/the-simpsons-response-apu-controversy-viral-story/","name":"Man's Story of Growing Up With a Father Like Apu Goes Viral Following The Simpsons Controversy"}}]}] ```