In an episode of the show that aired on October 22, Homer makes a comment regarding the strength of his handshake, joking to Marge, “Strangling the boy has paid off.”

He quickly adds, “Just kidding. I don’t do that anymore. Times have changed.”

One viewer noted the exchange, and it got more than 400,000 views on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Brooks, however, tells People the story is much ado about nothing. “Don’t think for a second we’re changing anything,” he explains. “Nothing’s getting tamed. Nothing, nothing, nothing.”

Of Bart, Brooks says, “He’ll continue to be strangled — [if] you want to use that awful term for it. He’ll continue to be loved by his father in a specific way.”

Brooks’ words echo a reply post on The Simpsons‘ official account on X. Last week, the account posted a black and white sketch of Homer indeed choking out his firstborn, who’s holding up a cellphone displaying the headline, “Simpsons: No More Strangling.”

Homer is pictured yelling, “Why you little clickbaiting – !!”

As if the picture wasn’t enough, the caption reads, “Homer Simpson was unavailable for comment as he was busy strangling Bart.”

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