Every Time A Celebrity Got Their Feelings Hurt By The Simpsons

The Simpsons' fraught-but-loving relationship when they came on the air in 1989 seems downright quaint and heartwarming now. But at the time, the nuclear family was a sacred institution, and the series' portrayal of a father who was a drunken slob and a backtalking hellraiser of a son was something close to blasphemy. 

At least, that's certainly how then-president George H.W. Bush felt. In an interview with People in 1990, First Lady Barbara Bush called "The Simpsons" "the dumbest thing I had ever seen."

George H.W. Bush himself would back up his wife in 1992, famously remarking in a speech: "We need a nation closer to the Waltons than The Simpsons." Bush left himself wide open for a comeback there, since the Waltons may have respected the parental hierarchy, but they were also struggling through the worst of the Great Depression. Of course, that's exactly what "The Simpsons" pointed out in a promo where the family watched the live action clip of Bush's speech on TV, with Bart firing back: "Hey, we're just like the Waltons! We're praying for an end to the depression too!"

But the back-and-forth didn't end there. In 1996, the series aired "Two Bad Neighbors" as the thirteenth episode in Season 7. The now-classic episode had George and Barbara moving in across the street, turning the Bushes into a parody of the Wilsons from the "Dennis the Menace" comic strip. When George enforced his old-fashioned ideas of discipline by spanking Bart, he instigated a prank war that ended with a cathartic scene of Homer punching him square in the face.

Writer Bill Oakley has said that the episode is often misunderstood: "It's not a political attack, it's a personal attack," he said on the show's Season 7 DVD commentary. The episode was intended to parody Bush's "crotchetiness" rather than his politics, and co-showrunner Josh Weinstein compared the characterization to Frank Grimes — another buttoned-up Springfield outsider who clashed with Homer. If Bush ever came across the episode on TV, he never commented on it — but it seems quite reasonable that he'd have just changed the channel to "The Waltons."

"The Simpsons" began as commercial bumpers for "The Tracey Ullman Show" before getting their own Christmas special and then series. But not everyone was thrilled as "Simpsons" soared, including Ullman. 

The British comedian, recently nominated for an Emmy for "Mrs. America," told Entertainment Weekly in 1992 that "I breast-fed those little devils," filing a suit alongside producing partner Kenneth Estin against Fox. The duo claimed their contract entitled a 5% to 10% cut of the earnings of characters created for the show. But according to Variety, "Simpsons" producer James L. Brooks proved that Groening had created the Simpsons with no input from Ullman, and the jury decided in favor of the Simpsons' bosses at Fox.

Ironically, Groening had created the Simpsons to avoid this exact situation. He told NPR in 2003 that when the "Ullman" show hired called him in for an interview off the strength of his "Life in Hell" cartoons, he threw together some quick sketches based on his own family in the waiting room, so he could pitch those new characters and save his comic creations for himself.

The Season 4 finale "Krusty Gets Kancelled" was a regular bonanza of celebrity guests. Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Midler, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a boatload of others got together to put on a charity telethon for Springfield's favorite clown. The show also starred Johnny Carson, once one of the biggest names on television thanks to this thirty-year run on "The Tonight Show," which had ended just one year prior to his appearance on "The Simpsons."

As it turns out, he almost never appeared at all. CBR reports that Carson was insulted by the draft of the script he received, in which his retirement forced him to mooch off the Simpsons. The writers weren't willing to chalk it up as a loss, however. They'd all grown up on Carson's comedy, and writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss had begun their careers writing for him. Further making things difficult, Carson had shunned the spotlight after leaving "Tonight." 

But kowtowing to a guest's demands wasn't in the "Simpsons" spirit and what's worse, it isn't funny. So, the writers instead re-wrote the script attempting to flatter Carson so much that it would become the joke itself. The new script portrayed Carson as a kind of super-showman, one who could sing opera while juggling a car and play the "Simpsons" theme song on accordion while tap-dancing and balancing two old men on his head. Carson warmed to the idea, recorded his lines the night after winning the first Emmy award for his final season of "The Tonight Show," and the beloved episode is still remembered fondly by fans as weird, wild stuff.

Frank Sivero isn't so much a "celebrity" as a recognizable face to fans of gangster movies, which may explain why he's so litigious about protecting his image. 

The veteran actor has snagged roles in seemingly all the classics of the genre during his decades-long career, and he's one of the few actors to appear in both pillars of gangster goodness, "Goodfellas" and "The Godfather." 

Of course, the mafia is one subject "The Simpsons" has always enjoyed skewering via Fat Tony, a parody of the classic mob boss played by recurring guest Joe Mantegna. Since every gangster needs a gang, Fat Tony has been accompanied by various henchmen over the years, including one known as Louis "Louie" Walters.

In October 2014, Sivero brought a $250 million lawsuit against Fox Television Studios, claiming that Louie was based on his "Goodfellas" character Frankie Carbone and that it caused, in his own colorful words, "a loss of likeness." Sivero further claimed that Carbone was his own creation, without input from Nicholas Pileggi's "Goodfellas" script, and that he had been living next door to writers from "The Simpsons" who based the character on him. 

Ultimately, the court found the character didn't sufficiently resemble Sivero, was a parody of multiple Mob characters, and would fall under First Amendment protections for parody even if it did. Sivero appealed and, four years later, got the same result.

"The Simpsons" might not be the pop culture phenomenon it has been at other times in its run, but it still makes the news quite often. Most recently, in the Season 32 episode "Panic on the Streets of Springfield," Lisa developed a new obsession with '80s British band The Snuffs and their vegetarian frontman Quilloughby (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch and backed by new songs from Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie).

If all this sounds vaguely familiar, it's because the character is a thinly-veiled caricature of Morrissey, beloved '80s lead singer of The Smiths and vegetarian activist.

In the decades since, however, Morrissey has developed a reputation for being irascible, and has fallen out of favor in some circles for his political views and controversial statements.

In the controversial episode, Lisa is horrified to meet her idol and discover he's become a racist slob who isn't even a vegetarian. For obvious reasons, Morrissey himself did not provide the voice.

The resemblance certainly wasn't lost on Morrissey himself, whose publicist posted a long, oddly punctuated rant after the episode about "this Simpson's bull—-," a typo that makes one wonder which specific Simpson he blames for all this. The publicist was especially offended by his client's portrayal as "racist, without pointing out any specific instances," possibly because there were too many to fit in a single episode.

Morrissey himself later responded with an even longer, rantier rant. Painting himself as a victim of harassment by the media, he claimed the only reason he hadn't launched a lawsuit in retaliation was because he lacked the funding and "business squad of legal practitioners ready to pounce." 

Perhaps Moz should calm down, relax and ask himself what difference does it make. Because when it comes to getting his feelings hurt by "The Simpsons," it turns out he's in good company.