Hank Azaria Makes Amends With Hari Kondabolu Over ‘The Simpsons’ Apu

Over five years after the release of Hari Kondabolu’s impactful and controversial documentary The Problem with Apu, Hank Azaria, Simpsons legend and renounced race impressionist, has finally smoothed things over with the stand-up comic in a comedic promotional video for Kondabolu’s new special, Vacation Baby. 

In the endorsement, The Simpsons in 2020. Through that conversation, we see how Azaria shot the promo with the grace of the since-retired Kwik-E-Mart proprietor himself as he emptied the cash with Snake’s pistol in his face.

The Problem with Apu analyzed the cultural impact of the controversial character from the perspective of a South Asian-American whose only experience seeing himself represented in any mainstream American media was watching The Simpsons and seeing a convenience store clerk voiced by a white actor. Kondabolu came to the conclusion that, considering the dearth of positive South Asians characters in television, the hyperbolically accented and heavily stereotyped Apu was a harmful and racist minstrelsy that needed to be rethought.

At the core of The Problem with Apu was Kondabolu’s quest to conduct an interview with Azaria over his performance as Apu. Azaria had gone on record saying that the character was born from an insulting impression he did during an argument with an “annoying” convenience store clerk, and, though he rejected Kondabolu’s request for an in-person meeting, he wrote an acknowledgement of the importance of the points Kondabolu was raising and voiced his .

Apu was sidelined from Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert and apologized for "my participation in racism, or at least in a racist practice or in structural racism, as it relates to showbusiness." 

Now, Azaria and Kondabolu are collaborators, and the voice behind countless other beloved non-minstrel characters is an official endorser of Vacation Baby which he calls “honestly one of the greatest pieces of stand-up that I’ve ever seen in my life.” If he thinks it’s great now - according to his parting shot in the vid, he’s going to absolutely love the special when he actually watches it.