Monty Python comedian John Cleese has released a snipy, mock-apology in response to Hank Azaria’s recent comments about playing Apu.
Earlier this week Hank Azaria, the actor behind several of the most beloved characters on The Simpsons, publicly apologised for voicing the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
Azaria, a white American, stepped down from the role of the iconic Kwik-E-Mart assistant last year. During a recent appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, Azaria delved into his decision to stop portraying Apu, admitting a cultural “blind spot” to the racism surrounding the character.
“Participating in racism, as in structural racism in this country, is about blind spots,” he said during the interview.. “I really didn’t know any better. I didn’t think about it.
“And there were very good intentions on all of our parts and we tried to do a funny, thoughtful character. Just because there were good intentions doesn’t mean there weren’t real negative consequences for the thing that I am accountable for.”
In June last year, The Simpsons, which has been dogged for criticism over using white actors to voice POC characters, announced that they will no longer cast white actors in non-white roles.
In response to Azaria’s apology, John Cleese has issued a mock apology of his own, directed at ‘white English people.’
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“Not wishing to be left behind by Hank Azaria, I would like to apologise on behalf on Monty Python for all the many sketches we did making fun of white English people,” Cleese wrote in a tweet. “We’re sorry for any distress we may have caused.”
John Cleese has been an outspoken proponent against “cancel culture” and “woke-ism” in recent years. In another tweet on Wednesday evening, Cleese wrote that “woke-ism”, “Started out as a good idea – ”Let’s be nice to people’- and finished up as a humorless, censorious, literal-minded, posturing idiocy.”
Not wishing to be left behind by Hank Azaria, I would like to apologise on behalf on Monty Python for all the many sketches we did making fun of white English people
We’re sorry for any distress we may have caused
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) April 13, 2021
