Fox Television Group bosses Dana Walden and Gary Newman weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding The Simpsons and the character of Apu at Fox’s Television Critics Association summer press tour presentation.
“We have had conversations with
Jim Brooks and his team, and we’ve left it up to them,” Walden said, when asked how the show intended to tackle the criticisms leveled against it over the past year. “They’ve treated the show and their characters with so much respect, we trust them to handle it in a way that will be best for their show… I’m not sure yet what they’re going to do, but we thought that should be their decision.”
Last season, The Simpsons chose to directly address the concerns raised by Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary The Problem With Apu, which explored the cultural impact of the Indian character and how he inadvertently shaped and perpetuated racial stereotypes, featuring interviews with celebrities of South Asian descent who revealed that they had grown up being bullied and mocked because of the way the character was portrayed.
Source: IGN.com Fox Bosses Trust The Simpsons Creators to 'Handle' Apu Controversy in Upcoming Seasons