John Cleese mocked “The Simpsons” actor Hank Azaria’s recent apologies for the Apu character by jokingly apologizing for Monty Python’s earlier sketches.
Azaria was at the heart of the controversy in 2017 when a documentary sparked a conversation about him, a white person, who has played the Indian-American character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on the show since 1989. The actor recently appeared on the podcast ‘Armchair Expert ‘where he recently apologized and expressed how much guilt he feels for negatively impacting so many Indian Americans with his performance.
On Tuesday, Cleese took to Twitter to take a light-hearted jab at Azaria because he felt he needed to apologize.
“Not wanting to be left behind by Hank Azaria, on behalf of Monty Python, I would like to apologize for all the many sketches we have made to fool white Englishmen,” Cleese joked“We apologize for the harm we’ve caused.”
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The 81-year-old comedian often uses his Twitter to speak out against “culture cancellation” and recently derided “wokeism” as “idiocy” in response to a fan.
“Started off as a good idea – let’s be nice to people” – and ended as a humorless, censoring, literal, posting idiocy, ” He wrote
Azaria, who has since said he will no longer be voicing Apu because the show generally takes a stand against white actors voicing non-white characters, recently spoke with podcast hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman about the journey he’s taken to educate themselves about the damage Apu has done to the Indian community.
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In addition to taking to heart the message behind Hari Kondabolu’s documentary “The Problem With Apu,” Azaria said he was trying to talk to Indian people to get a little perspective. He told the podcast host a story of a recent meeting with a young Indian boy that shook him.
John Cleese mocked Hank Azaria for apologizing for voicing Apu in ‘The Simpsons’.
(Getty Images)
“I spoke at my son’s school, I spoke to the Indian kids there because I wanted to get their input,” said Azaria (via The Hollywood Reporter). “A 17 year old … he’s never seen ‘The Simpsons’ but knows what Apu means. It’s practically a blot on this point. This country.”
According to Vulture, at one point during the lengthy interview, the voice actor spoke directly to Padman, who is an Indian-American himself, to explain that he feels he has hurt her and everyone like her with his portrayal.
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“I really apologize. I know you didn’t ask for that, but it’s important. I apologize for my part in creating and participating in it,” he said. “Part of me feels like I should go to every Indian person in this country and apologize, and sometimes I do when it comes up.”
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The actor is now an advocate of taking care of various casting and writing rooms.