Simu Liu reveals 'health scares' forced him to drop out of Disney World Christmas event

The Marvel and 'Barbie' star said he was "gutted" to drop out of Epcot's Candlelight Processional holiday event.

Simu Liu's holiday season began with a serious health issue that forced him to drop out of a Christmas event at Disney World, the Marvel and Barbie actor revealed Thursday.

"I'm so absolutely gutted to have to drop out of this year's Candlelight Processional at Disney World," the 34-year-old wrote on his Instagram Story, indicating that he would no longer be part of the Florida resort's annual celebrity-filled engagement that sees star narrators reading stories of Christmas at Epcot throughout the season. He was set to speak at the theme park Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

"For those who were looking forward to seeing me, know that I was equally looking forward to be a part of your holidays," Liu continued. "The health of myself and my family are of paramount importance to me. After all, that's the spirit of this season! And so, after some health scares I've made the difficult decision to stay at home. Something tells me this isn't the last you've seen of me at Candlelight though... let's all keep fingers crossed for 2024!"

Liu did not elaborate on the specifics of his condition. EW has reached out to representatives for the actor and Disney World for comment.

In addition to Liu's absence from the Candlelight Processional, 82-year-old actress Ann-Margret dropped out of her second scheduled reading on Wednesday after appearing at the event on Tuesday. She was replaced by Star Wars: The Clone Wars performer Ashley Eckstein. A representative for the star tells EW she enjoyed performing on the first evening of her slated appearance, but that she came down with food poisoning and had to pull out of the second showing.

Disney's Candlelight Processional is set to continue throughout the year, with stars like Neil Patrick Harris, John Stamos, Eva Longoria, Sterling K. Brown, and Brendan Fraser set to appear before the annual presentation's conclusion on Dec. 30.

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