‘The Simpsons’ Executive Producers Joke Harry Shearer Negotiation Is Tied To Iran Deal

“Simpsons” fans hoping for an update on voice actor Harry Shearer are going to be disappointed. Executive producers Al Jean and James L. Brooks revealed at the 2015 ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas that there has been no change in negotiations.

“It’s same as it was,” Jean told the audience at “The Evolution & History of ‘The Simpsons’ panel. “It’s in limbo. We hope he returns. Either way the show is continuing; the characters will stay. I think it will be tied in with the Iran deal that the U.S. is negotiating. It’ll be one big package.”

Brooks chimed in, comparing their wait on Shearer to a “widow’s walk.” For those unfamiliar with the phrase, a widow’s walk is a platform on old ocean front homes where wives would wait for their husband’s to return from sea.

Shearer, who voices multiple characters on the animated Fox sitcom, announced in May that he would not be returning. He posted the news in a series of tweets:

After “The Simpsons” was picked up for two more seasons, the 71-year-old voice actor became the lone holdout in signing a new deal. He reportedly left because he wanted a different deal from the rest of the cast. Jean commented on the rumors shortly after Shearer’s tweets.

“We’re still hoping he might come back. Nothing’s done ‘til it’s done,” Jean told Entertainment Weekly in May. “He tweeted that it was over, but … There’s an offer that the rest of the cast accepted, and Harry has not accepted it. So we’re hoping he does. If he doesn’t within a certain period of time, we would have to recast – but we haven’t started.”

Shearer voices Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Lenny, Mr. Burns, Otto and many more characters. He has been with the show since 1989.