After a backlash prompted by a 2018 documentary called The Problem With Apu, the show has spent the last year re-casting its non-white roles.
“Times change,” Matt tells us, “but I actually didn’t have a problem with the way we were doing it.
“All of our actors play dozens of characters each, it was never designed to exclude anyone.”
At first, the show’s response was along these lines too. Within an episode, Lisa looked directly into the camera, saying: “Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?” Eventually, though, The Simpsons backtracked and announced it was making changes after all.
The latest came on Monday, when it was reported that Harry Shearer is to be replaced as the voice of Dr Hibbert by Kevin Michael Richardson, known for his voice work on American Dad! and Family Guy.
Asked whether he regrets how they handled it, Matt says: “At a certain point it doesn’t matter what you say. You’re going to be attacked by by whoever, you know?
“We’re not going out of our way to comfort bigots. On the other hand, if you do any kind of gesture and people perceive a weakness, you’ll be criticised.
He does, however, accept that change was needed – and not just with actors, but across the entire industry.
“I absolutely agree with that. And we’re trying to make it better,” he says. “Bigotry and racism are still an incredible problem and it’s good to finally go for more equality and representation.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-56024683
Inspiration Archive By Charles Ghose 