Guns N' Roses bassist insists this Simpsons character is based on him

Duff McKagan from Guns N’ Roses has claimed he was the inspiration for the fictional beer brand. In his 2011 autobiography, the GN'R rocker offered a similar tale. “When Guns N’ Roses began to break into the public consciousness, I was known as a big drinker,” he wrote. “In 1988, MTV aired a concert in which Axl introduced me — as usual — as Duff ‘The King of Beers’ McKagan.

He later explained this to Stereogum “So I was Duff, the King of Beers, but this is 1988, 1989 and our management, I remember they called me and said some arthouse-like cartoon wants to use your name as the beer, like a college arthouse cartoon. There weren’t any adult cartoons at this point.”

McKagan agreed and initially didn’t think much of it.

“I didn’t know about branding or anything like that, but that show took off,” he explained. “And then they started selling merch and stuff. I never went after him, but I’m like, ‘Hey, motherfuckers,’ you know?”

The creators of the Simpsons however….. Their story is a little different. Creator Matt Groening reportedly called it “absurd,” while former showrunner Mike Reiss addressed the rumour in his book Springfield Confidential.

“We needed a name for Homer’s favourite beer, and (writer) Jay Kogen came up with Duff,” Reiss noted. “No, it was not named after Duff McKagan, bassist for Guns N’ Roses; we’d never heard of this guy. Have you?”

Ouch....