The Disgraced Stars Who Stopped By Springfield on Their Way to Being Canceled
The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but as several Simpsons fans can attest, the road to cancellation often comes with a pit stop in Springfield.
After processing the horrifying allegations of several types of sexual misconduct — including violent sexual assault — against The Sandman author Neil Gaiman, some Simpsons viewers began grappling with the writer’s legacy in the literary world, our culture as a whole and, of course, his minor role in the long-running animated series. (He voiced himself in Season 23’s “The Book Job,” a parody of the Ocean's Trilogy that ironically culminates in the author being a secretly illiterate baddie.)
Don't Miss
“I guess Gaiman will never be back on The Simpsons. Also, will Disney+ erase that ep now?” asked one fan, while another joked that this could possibly be the series’ darkest prediction yet.
But Gaiman is far from the first visitor to Springfield to land in hot water after a Simpsons stint, nor will he likely be the last. Among questions of whether or not “The Book Job” will go the way of the Michael Jackson-led “Stark Raving Dad,” the episode broached yet another element of Simpsons history: What other canceled stars spent time with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie?
A whole host of notable jerks — including Mel Gibson, ex-baseball star Mark McGwire and multi-hyphenate transphobe J.K. Rowling — has been immortalized in yellow ink. “I said it before and I’ll say it again, based Homer,” a Twitter user captioned a screengrab of the Simpsons patriarch telling Donald Trump fanboi Elon Musk to “die” in Season 26’s “The Musk Who Fell to Earth.”
“Surprised no one’s mentioned him yet,” another fan tagged an image of Lisa Simpson hitching a ride with Jeffrey Epstein-linked theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in 2017’s “Mr. Lisa’s Opus.”
Maybe even worse: “Reminder that Andy Dick is part of the reason why Phil Hartman was murdered. Yet they still had the gall to invite him on years later,” wrote a third, referencing the controversial comic’s appearance in a 2007 episode.
“Ricky Gervais turned out rather transphobic,” added an additional Simpsons watcher with an illustration of Homer sitting alongside the controversial British comedian in Season 17’s “Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife.”
But hey, it could (somehow) still be worse. At least Bart only dressed like Sean “Diddy” Combs during the show’s now-iconic “TiK ToK” intro, an animated rendition of the disgraced mogul nowhere to be found.
