Wu claims that despite the Shang-Chi actress’s heartfelt apology following the joke, she still feels shunned by the Asian community.
Following her divisive 2019 tweets, Constance Wu has spoken out on the anguish of being shunned by the Asian community.
Wu discussed how she felt betrayed by her own community on Wednesday’s Red Table Talk edition of Facebook Watch. She specifically mentioned one particular gala event that happened months after her attempted suicide and in which she tweeted her dismay that Fresh Off the Boat had been renewed. Simu Liu, the host of Character Media’s annual Unforgettable Gala, joked about her after being assured that she wouldn’t be made fun of.
Wu explained to co-hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield-Norris that they wanted her to attend because they wanted to celebrate “Fresh Off the Boat” and the children who appeared on the show. “There was so much drama going on at the time that I thought if I left, everyone would simply want to talk about the tweets. And I really adore my on-screen children. I want them to be able to rejoice at this time.”
Wu went on “I warned them not to make fun of it since I was still feeling extremely raw about it. I don’t want to be laughed at for it.” Wu claimed that at the time, none of her peers were aware of her attempt at suicide. “But I said that I couldn’t handle that. They assured me. “No, no, no, no,” they cried. Constance is dear to us. There will only be pleasant energy and good vibes directed at her. I said, “Okay, okay, I’ll go,” and they seated me in the first row with all the cameras trained on me. Within ten minutes, the show’s host made a joke about me.”
“I was sitting there by myself, fighting back tears in front of everyone, and the audience was like, ‘Oh, s—-!'” said Wu. “They immediately made fun of me despite their earlier assurance that they wouldn’t. I had the impression that they were preparing me for it. Furthermore, it appeared to be a betrayal by the Asian American community. I was in the emergency room a few months earlier.”
It’s unclear what the joke was about, but Wu said Liu afterwards expressed regret to her. Simu, the show’s host, “did the right thing and issued a sincere apology,” she claimed.
Liu’s representatives did not immediately respond to EW’s request for more information.
Despite Wu’s honest apologies, the Shang-Chi actress said that she continues to feel isolated from the rest of her own neighbourhood. The Hustlers actor remarked, “I feel like people are avoiding me. “I sense disapproval, but rather than it being overt, it comes in the form of silence on how many people contacted me previously, pre-versus post-tweet. And it’s obvious. The stillness has a result.”
Wu stated that she had misinterpreted the event that Liu was throwing on Red Table Talk in an Instagram story she uploaded on Wednesday night. “Character Media, not CAPE, was the event’s host; it was called the Unforgettable Gala (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment). I’m sorry to @capeusa and regret the mistake “She composed. The 18th Annual Unforgettable Gala, which honours Asian and Pacific Islanders who have pushed for API representation in entertainment and culture, was hosted by Liu in late 2019, as EW previously reported.
Wu also talked openly with the mother-daughter pairs about the sexual harassment she experienced from a senior producer while filming Fresh Off the Boat, her experiences with sexual assault away from the set, and her estranged relationship with her mother. All of these topics are covered in Wu’s memoir Making a Scene, which is currently available wherever books are sold.
Watch Wu’s Red Table Talk segment above.
After Wu specified on Instagram where Liu’s remarks had been made, this report was corrected.