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Iconic TV show The Simpsons has been slammed for ‘dropping the ball’ and being ‘washed up’ after appearing to take a cheeky dig at UFC legend Joe Rogan.
Rogan has faced mounting backlash in recent months over claims that his podcast, available exclusively on Spotify after inking his lucrative 2020 deal, spread COVID-19 misinformation.
And the 54-year-old American star has come under further scathing criticism after old clips of The Joe Rogan Experience surfaced of him repeatedly using the N-word.
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The Simpsons, now in its 33rd season, dropped its most recent episode on 13th March and the 14th episode of the season is called ‘You Won't Believe What This Episode is About - Act Three Will Shock You!’
During the episode, Homer Simpson becomes a social pariah and is accused of intentionally locking Santa’s Little Helper inside the car on a hot day.
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The legendary Simpsons character also accidentally knocks Reverend Lovejoy out of the church window, with Homer going viral after footage from his incidents are posted online.
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As a result of his clumsy actions, Homer becomes public enemy No 1 in Springfield and becomes a victim of ‘cancel culture.’
However, the head honcho of the Simpson family is handed a lifeline after a mysterious man, Theo, proposes a radical offer to help him rebuild his reputation.
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Homer crosses paths with a Rogan lookalike, who doesn’t talk and only makes a brief appearance, and is invited into a building signposted as a ‘Right-Wing Podcast House.’
Screen Rant’s Cathal Gunning branded the Rogan skit as “bizarrely misguided” and called The Simpsons episode a “self-contradictory mess.”
In a piece for Giant Freakin Robot, Nathan Kamal suggested The Simpsons had “no clear point” over their commentary on cancel culture and “did not really have anything to say.”
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The Simpsons’ attempt to tackle cancel culture while appearing to take a subtle swipe at Rogan did not sit well with social media users either.
One person commented: “Homer gets ‘cancelled’ in the new Simpsons episode. I don’t know exactly what they were trying to say. There wasn’t really a solid through-line.”
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Someone else pointed out: “Modern Simpsons is so bizarre because recently [there’ll] be a few sparse good episodes. But then they still do Joe Rogan Homer gets cancelled. They already did Homer gets cancelled in 1994.”
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Another simply said: “Simpsons Joe Rogan making me spiral.”
While a fourth wrote: “Little late there, guys. When the Spotify flap was going on the other month, it would have made sense to do this, but overall everybody has moved on from [Rogan] since Spotify won’t budge on him.”
The Simpsons episode will land on Disney+ in the UK later this year.
Adnan Riaz