Constance Wu: I Attempted Suicide After Fresh Off the Boat Tweet Backlash

Kimberly Roots
·3 min read
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Constance Wu says she attempted to end her life after receiving harsh backlash from her tweets about Fresh Off the Boat‘s Season 6 renewal.

The actress, who currently stars in Prime Video’s The Terminal List, posted to social media Thursday after a years-long absence. “I was afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it,” she wrote. She describes how her “careless tweets about the renewal of my TV show” caused a lot of online ire, including some direct messages from “a fellow Asian actress” who allegedly told Wu “I’d become [a blight] on the Asian American community.” After reading those messages, Wu continues, “I started feeling like I didn’t even deserve to live anymore.”

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She adds that the DMs “convinced me to [end] my own life” and that “luckily, a friend found me and rushed me to the ER.” (Read Wu’s full message below.)

In May 2019, Wu posted several messages conveying her disappointment about the renewal. In a series of tweets, she said that she was “so upset now that I’m literally crying,” and she wrote “dislike” under a post announcing the renewal news on Fresh Off the Boat‘s official Instagram page. She later said her posts were “ill-timed” and that she was actually “so grateful” that the comedy would be coming back for another season. After that, she clarified that she was disappointed that the renewal meant she’d have to pass on “another project I was really passionate about.”

Wu, who also starred in the film Crazy Rich Asians, elaborated that while playing Fresh Off the Boat‘s Jessica Huang was easy for her, the other project “would have challenged me as an artist.” Still, she recognized that her rant “wasn’t nice, and I am sorry for that.”

When Season 6 ultimately became the ABC series’ final season, the network’s then-entertainment president Karey Burke specifically said that the cancellation was not Wu’s fault. “Constance actually was incredible this season on the show, and we were thrilled to have her there,” she said. “[Ending the series] really was a joint decision between us and [20th Century Fox] and the creators. [We all felt] that, given the life of these characters, it was time to move on. Eddie’s graduating from high school and moving out of the house. It just felt like it’s coming to its natural story conclusion.”

In her post Thursday, Wu called the attempt to end her life “a scary moment that made me reassess a lot in my life. For the next few years, I put my career aside to focus on my mental health.” She reports that her tweets “became a subject so touchy that most of my [Asian-American] colleagues decided that was a time to avoid me or ice me out.

“I will admit it hurt a lot,” she wrote, “but it also made me realize how important it is to reach out and care for people who are going through a hard time.”

Wu also spoke about her forthcoming book, Making a Scene, which will be released in October. She said she wrote the collection of essays in part “to reach out and help people talk about the uncomfortable stuff in order to understand it, reckon with it, and open pathways to healing.”

If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s toll-free number: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

 

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