// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Apu returns to The Simpsons with new voice after race row
The Simpsons character Apu has returned to the show voiced by a new actor, after almost a decade away amid accusations of racial stereotypes.
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon - to give the much-loved shopkeeper his full name - re-appeared in Sunday's episode titled The Revengening, voiced by India-born US-raised actor Sunil Malhotra.
The character has been seen but not heard around Springfield since the October 2017 episode The Serfsons, and his big return to action had reportedly been a closely guarded secret.
Malhotra said in a statement posted on Instagram that it feels like a reclamation. "It truly is his homecoming," he said.
The character, who has been part of the long-running US animation series since 1990, was previously voiced by a white actor, Hank Azaria, putting on a heavy Indian accent.
Indian-American comic Hari Kondabolu made a documentary in 2017, titled the Problem With Apu, saying the character - a South Asian convenience store clerk - was founded on racial stereotypes.
The following year, an episode of the long-running US cartoon addressed the controversy surrounding the Indian character for the first time, making a nod to the accusations, but some viewers found it insufficient.
The Simpsons' Apu: 'A stereotype hiding in plain sight'
Others defended the show and said all its characters were stereotypes.
Azaria first announced he was stepping down from the role in 2020, and he later told Dax Shepherd's Armchair Expert podcast: "Part of me feels like I need to go around to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise."