Rival animation brings up the Apu controversy

South Park has  trolled The Simpsons, calling out its rival animation for a place where  ‘don’t care about bigotry and hate’.

The slam played on the criticism of Indian shopkeeper Apu as a racist stereotype played by a white actor,  Hank Azaria.

And last night’s episode ended  with a #CancelTheSimpsons hashtag. 

The episode revolved around Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo, being called to account for his offensive tweets.

In a jibe at Roseanne Barr, the talking turd blamed the sleeping drug Ambien for his outbursts, in a haering that also parodied Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate committee appearance.

At the end of the episode, Mr Hankey was expelled from South Park and exiled to a land ‘that accepts racist, awful beings like him,’ where people ‘don’t care about bigotry and hate.’ He’s seen being driven our out of town and into Springfield.

Even the episode’s title was a jibe. The Problem With A Poo referenced The Problem With Apu, comedian Hari Kondabolu’s  documentary about the Simpsons character.

The final hashtag is another in-joke, as South Park previously called for its own axing, using #CancelSouthPark.

Published: 11 Oct 2018