On Sunday, 18 October 2026, in Fox’s episode “The Revengening,” Apu Nahasapeemapetilon spoke again on The Simpsons. He last had lines in October 2017, in “The Serfsons.” After that he was still seen, but not heard. The BBC and NOS both confirm the return.

The new voice is Sunil Malhotra, an India-born, US-raised actor with credits on The Legend of Korra and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. He replaces Hank Azaria, a white actor who held the part for nearly three decades with a thick Indian accent.

The argument gathered around Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu. Azaria said in 2020 he would stop voicing the character. In 2021, on the Armchair Expert podcast, he said he felt he needed to apologise in person. That is his withdrawal from the role, not a court finding.

On Instagram, Malhotra wrote that the return feels like a reclamation: “It truly is his homecoming.” Apu’s wife, Manjula, is now Janina Gavankar, after Jan Hooks and Tress MacNeille, the BBC writes. Executive producer Matt Selman told Variety the Nahasapeemapetilon family will be heard more often. That is the show’s intention, not a locked episode grid.

In the Halloween episode, a man in a “Daft Monk” costume is hit again and again by Springfield residents, then takes off the helmet at City Hall and shows he is Apu. Marge tells him they are sorry they left him for dead. We are not retelling the whole plot.

Malhotra said before the weekend that his agent’s call made his stomach sink, but he was also curious whether the writers’ room looked different after eight years of silence. He spoke with Selman and co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos about bringing the character into 2026. That is his account, not an audit of the room.

After the row, The Simpsons said white actors would no longer voice non-white characters. Other parts also changed voices. Apu’s return is an episode that aired, not a close to the argument about the stereotype.

Image: Fox Plaza, Century City, 25 August 2024, Alexis Doine, CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The Fox tower, not the animation studio and not Apu.

Sources consulted: Personage Apu keert terug in The Simpsons met Indiaas-Amerikaanse stemacteur — NOS; The Simpsons: Apu returns with new voice after race row — BBC; The Simpsons' Surprise: Apu Is Heard for the First Time in Nearly a Decade, as Sunil Malhotra Takes Over for Hank Azaria — Variety.