London: 'Thank you, come again', no more. It is indeed a sad Sunday for all The Simpsons fans as the show's producers are claiming to drop Indian character Apu following a backlash against alleged racial stereotyping.

In a report by Sky News, Indian-American producer  Adi Shankar said that the Kwik-E-Mart owner Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in Simpsons universe will be written out to "avoid the controversy." He confirmed the news by quoting two sources who work on the show and even a third source who works with the creator of the series Matt Groening.

Shankar admitted to being disappointed with the decision, especially since a contest was launched asking the public to help write a script which transformed Apu to represent "a realistic portrayal of Indians in America".

He said, "They aren't going to make a big deal out of it, or anything like that, but they'll drop him altogether just to avoid the controversy."

Apu has been a part of the long-running show since 1990 and the misrepresentation of South Asians via his character came to light after Indian-American comedian Hari Kondaolu produced a documentary last year called The Problem with Apu. The main issue being that Apu is voiced by a white actor Hank Azaria. 

However, he did admit that doing away with the character is not the way to solve the issue. He tweeted, "There are so many ways to make Apu work without getting rid of him. If true, this sucks."