‘Simpsons’ producers respond to Homer reports

(NEXSTAR) – “The Simpsons” producers have issued a response to reports that Homer may never have strangled Bart for laughs.

“Homer Simpson was unavailable for comment as he was busy strangling Bart,” reads the statement, which was shared with Nextstar by a consultant for the series.

Show creator Matt Groening also created an example suggesting that viewers – and media outlets – shouldn’t have taken Homer’s recent remarks so literally.

“The Simpsons” fans began wondering if the animated sitcom had signaled the end of the long-running gig after an episode in October in which Homer and Marge meet a new neighbor. The neighbor compliments Homer on his firm handshake, at which point Homer turns to Marge and says, “Look, Marge, pay by strangling the boy.”

“Just kidding, I don’t do that anymore,” Homer says quickly. “Times have changed.”

The scene gained internet attention when it was posted on X (formerly Twitter) after the episode aired.

“I just found out that, after more than 30 years, ‘The Simpsons’ has finally retired the long-running gag of Bart strangling Homer. It took them a long time.” A user wrote.

“I knew my man was going to learn Homer,” said another.

Others, meanwhile, weren’t sure if Homer’s comment actually reflected a larger decision by the show’s producers. The show was always a satire, some argued, and Homer’s actions were never meant to be “acceptable.”

“The humor is in the absurdity of it, and fits the satirical nature of the show,” wrote one Reddit user who wasn’t convinced the writers intended for Homer to act on his remarks.

Others pointed to a 2011 episode in which Homer decided to stop strangling Bart after attending a father-enrichment class. During class, the tables are turned on Homer when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tells Homer how it feels to be “young, small, and scared” by choking him — and letting his friends do it, too.

But Homer soon reverted to his old ways, once again strangling Bart in a 2013 episode.

The Independent recently noted that he was also shown strangling Bart during the 31st season, which ran between 2019 and 2020.

Despite the reaction from the show’s producers, viewers may have good reason to believe that the show will dig up an old thread that could be considered insensitive. In 2020, voice actor Hank Azaria stopped voicing the character of Apo after backlash over his casting and accusations of racial stereotyping.

Azaria admitted on the podcast “Call Out of the Fallout: Code Switching” last April that she now finds her casting “embarrassing” and acknowledged how her portrayal of Apo “in the U.S. “Widespread inhuman treatment of indigenous peoples”.