Irate ‘Simpsons’ Fans Petition Netflix To Remove Hari Kondabolu’s Comedy Special
If you have yet to watch Hari Kondabolu’s comedy special on Netflix and you are a fan of The Simpsons, it may not be for you.
In fact, a new petition has popped up on Change.org requesting that Netflix removes Kondabolu’s original stand-up comedy special from their streaming library. This petition to remove the comedy special comes after the comedian criticized The Simpsons‘ character Apu just last year.
A year ago, Kondabolu released a documentary called The Problem with Apu that caused a chain reaction resulting in the decision to stop using the character in future episodes of The Simpsons, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
Unsurprisingly, die-hard fans of Simpsons took issue with this decision.
Kondabolu’s latest stand-up special, Warn Your Relatives hit the Netflix library back in May. With the decision to remove the beloved Apu from future episodes of Simpsons, fans of the series want Netflix to consider removing the comedy special from their library to discontinue their support of the comedian.
“Hari Kondabolu is a pseudo comedian, that needed a little fame. The channel he found was to atack [sic] Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from The Simpson,” the creator of the petition penned as they explained the purpose.
The creator of the petition added: “He was able to push producers to remove Apu from the show. We are asking Netflix and other companies to remove Hari’s content from their networks.”
The petition concluded with the desire to show Kondabolu what freedom of speech meant. More importantly, the petition wanted to show the comedian what it felt like when someone took freedom of speech away from you.
To date, over 54,000 fans of The Simpsons have signed the petition in support of the removal. The petition has a goal of 75,000 signatures. Unfortunately, even if the petition hits the signature goal, there is no guarantee Netflix would remove the comedy special from their library.
Fans of “The Simpsons” Want “The Problem With Apu” Producer Off Of Netflix https://t.co/cYxsY1iR3Z pic.twitter.com/0yvwT5Cqq8
— John Schwarz-Bubbleblabber EIC (@johnblabber36) November 18, 2018
The few issues that make the removal unlikely include the fact that Netflix paid for rights to the comedy special in the first place. Moreover, the controversy surrounding the comedian and his comedy special makes a great advertisement for Netflix. Furthermore, it is extremely rare for Netflix to entertain the idea of moving Netflix Original content from their library for any reason.
The only real exception to this is when The Killing was pulled from the Netflix library. The only reason the streaming giant pulled The Killing is because they only temporarily owned rights to the series, so they could produce a concluding season that Netflix felt the series deserved.
In “The Problem with Apu,” I used Apu & The Simpsons as an entry point into a larger conversation about the representation of marginalized groups & why this is important. The Simpsons response tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress.
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) April 9, 2018
Petitions surrounding Netflix pop up online all the time, the streaming giant doesn’t make a habit of responding to or complying with them.
