Constance Wu says she did not report the sexual harassment she allegedly experienced on the set of “Fresh Off the Boat” for fear of being fired from the ABC sitcom.
“I was afraid of losing my job, and compared to the other stories of the bullying I’ve endured, it wasn’t that bad,” she said in an emotional new interview on Good Morning America on Tuesday. “Honestly, what I went through was pretty ordinary.”
Wu explained that she “suppressed” her pain because her alleged abuser, a producer of the show, was an Asian American and was “such a strong supporter of Asian-American issues that I don’t want to put him down.”
“It was a real conflict for me, because I didn’t want to tarnish the reputation of the only show that was supposed to represent Asian Americans,” she added.
However, in season 2 of the hit ABC show, Wu started rejecting his “inappropriate requests” that “infuriated him”. She clarified that she has not spoken to her abuser since then.
ABC has not commented on the allegations.
The 40-year-old ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ star explained that her previous experience of sexual harassment played a role in her infamous 2019 tweet expressing how “upset” she was that “Fresh Off the Boat” was extended for a fifth season.
“I had gotten these other jobs that I was really excited about and I was ready for a clean slate,” Wu said on “GMA.” “I was ready to stop working in a place where there were so many memories of sexual harassment, shame and fear. So when I found out I couldn’t go on, I felt — honestly, at that moment, I felt betrayed and I felt lied to.”
Wu admitted the tweet was “reckless,” “gracious,” and “dramatic,” but she didn’t think the punishment fit the crime.
“The response was immediate,” she continued. “There was a huge pile on it. I was essentially canceled because I came across as ungrateful, and most painful of all, it was really the Asian-American community that either ostracized or shunned me the most.”
“Do I think the proportion of hate and cancellation I got was equal to the amount of mistakes I made? No,” she said simply.
During this time, Wu also struggled with suicidal thoughts after a fellow Asian actress sent her DMs “which left me so embarrassed that I thought I had to end my own life.”
“She actually said I had become a tease for” [the] Asian-American community, and nothing I could ever do would make up for the damage I had done to the community,” Wu said. “That I was like, a shame. And it made me feel like Asian Americans felt it would be better if I just didn’t exist.”
The author of “Making A Scene” revealed in a July 2022 statement that she attempted suicide.
“I pulled myself over the balcony of my apartment building, you know, and I went jumping,” she told the morning show. “When I talk about it now, my palms get itchy because I remember holding on to them. But in the end it turned out to be something useful, because it got me help. I was in therapy and was observed for a long time.”
Wu has since slowly returned to the limelight and social media, but she clarified that she did this to spread her message among those who are active social media users and may not be reading her new memoir.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).