Simpsons giving Smithers partner

Waylon Smithers will get his first boyfriend in the Nov. 21 episode of The Simpsons. Smithers (voiced by Harry Shearer) will partner up with fashion mogul Michael De Graaf (played by guest star Victor Garber). “I think it's crucially important that these stories are acknowledged,” Garber, who wed his partner Rainer Andreesen in 2015, told The New York Post. “I haven't played a lot of gay characters, but every time I do it, it brings back certain feelings I had as a young actor where I couldn't be gay.” Simpsons writer Rob Lazebnik and his son Johnny wrote the episode. Johnny's real-life coming out inspired Smithers's coming-out episode in 2016.