Matt Groening is "proud" of The Simpsons' Apu, has "ambitious" plans to revive him

USA Today

In reflecting on The Simpsons' 700th episode, USA Today asked Groening if he would've changed the nature of Apu in wake of The Problem with Apu backlash. "I think the Apu stories are fantastic, and he's one of the most nuanced characters on a silly two-dimensional cartoon show," says Groening. "So, yeah, I'm proud of Apu. (Pause.) I'm trying not to open up another chasm of criticism, but it doesn't matter what I say. I'll get it anyway." While Hank Azaria is no longer voicing Apu, Groening adds that "we've got plans for Apu, but we have to see if we can make the stories work." Does he have a new actor to voice Apu? "No," says Groening. "We're working on something kind of ambitious. That's all I can say." Groening was also asked about Fox's decision to have only minority actors voice minority characters. 'It was not my idea, but I'm fine with it," he says. "Who can be against diversity? So it's great. However, I will just say that the actors were not hired to play specific characters. They were hired to do whatever characters we thought of. To me, the amazing thing is seeing all our brilliant actors who can do multiple voices, do multiple voices. That's part of the fun of animation, However, to be more inclusive and hire more people, I'm completely in favor of that." Groening was also asked about his 2018 comment in which he told USA Today, "I think it’s a time in our culture where people love to pretend they’re offended." Groening responded: "I have to word this carefully. I think audiences are smarter than the posse gives them credit for, and people can handle nuance, except for the ones who can't handle nuance. And then there's that phrase, something them if they can't take a joke." ALSO: As an episode of The Simpsons, Episode 700 was barely there at all.