“Fresh Off the Boat” alum Constance Wu claims in her upcoming memoir that she was sexually harassed by a senior of the production team on the now-defunct ABC sitcom.
According to the New York Times, the 40-year-old actress only refers to the collaborator with an initial in “Making a Scene.”
Wu also claims that during the show’s first season in 2015, the man exhibited such controlling behavior as “demanding that she pass all her business affairs to him and tell her what to wear,” according to the Times.
“‘Fresh Off the Boat’ was my very first TV show,” Wu told the publication. “I was thrown into this world. I have no parents in the industry. And because I was 30, people thought I knew what I was doing. It made me paranoid and embarrassed.”
The star — who played matriarch Jessica Huang on the show — says things took a physical turn when she and the producer attended a sporting event together. There he would have “put his hand on her thigh, his hand eventually grazing her crotch,” reports the Times.
Wu claims she asked him to stop and the two later brushed off the alleged incident.
During a panel at Friday’s Atlantic Festival in Washington, DC, Wu outlined her decision to speak out about the alleged wrongdoing.
“I kept my mouth shut for a long time about a lot of sexual harassment and intimidation that I received the first two seasons of the show. Because after the first two seasons, once it was a success, then I was no longer afraid of losing my job , then I could say ‘no’ to the bullying, ‘no’ to the harassment, from this particular producer,” she said per Variety.
“And so I thought, ‘You know what? I’ve taken care of it, nobody needs to know, I don’t have to stain the reputation of this Asian-American producer, I don’t have to stain the reputation of the show.’”
“Fresh Off the Boat” ended its six-season run in February 2020.
ABC did not immediately respond to Vidak For Congress’s requests for comment and declined to comment to NYT. When asked for comment, Wu’s representative did not respond to the accusation, but suggested that we get the book.
Wu wrote her book during her long hiatus from the public eye. She took a three-year hiatus from social media after being criticized for tweeting that she was “so upset” and “literally crying” over the 2019 “Fresh Off the Boat” revamp.
She even attempted suicide before a friend intervened to save her life.
“Luckily, a friend found me and rushed me to the emergency room. It was a scary moment that left me reassessing a lot in my life,” the “Hustlers” star explained in a July Twitter post. “For the next few years, I put my career aside to focus on my mental health. AsAms does not talk enough about mental health.”
Wu added that her upcoming memoir is “not always the most flattering portrayal” of herself. But it’s “as honest as I can be,” she noted.
‘Because the truth is, I’m not poised, graceful, or perfect. I am emotional. I make mistakes…a lot of them!” she concluded. “After a short break from Hollywood and a lot of therapy, I feel good enough to continue here (at least for a little bit). And while I’m scared, I’ve decided that I owe it to the me-of-three years ago to be brave and share my story so it can help someone with theirs.”
Wu previously stated that her negative reaction to the “FOTB” revamp was because it meant “giving up another project that I was really passionate about.” She further clarified the intent behind her tweet in an August 2019 interview with The Los Angeles Times, in which she called herself “dramatic.”
“Making a Scene” hits stores on October 4.
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).