Constance Wu burst into tears as she recalled the harrowing moment when she nearly threw herself over her apartment balcony after receiving a furious “pile” of backlash over her controversial Fresh Off the Boat tweets in 2019.
The 40-year-old actress spoke in an emotional sit-down with Good Morning America about the night she “pulled herself over the balcony of her apartment” and “jumped” after being driven to the brink of suicide from the relentless hatred that ensued. encountered them on social media.
Wu came under heavy criticism after sharing her displeasure with the ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat’s surprise revamp three years ago.
At the time, Wu – who starred as Asian-American mother Jessica Huang on the series – stated she was “so upset” that it would be coming back for another season, sparking a stir with fans who labeled her “ungrateful” and “spoiled.” ‘. ‘
Constance Wu burst into tears during an emotional Good Morning America interview on Tuesday, in which she opened up about the night she nearly killed herself
Wu, 40, was driven to the brink of suicide after she became enraged over tweeting her upset about the surprising renewal of ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat in 2019
At the time, Wu tweeted her anger at the show’s revamp — sparking a bitter response from fans, who called her “ungrateful.”
Now the actress, who rose to world fame after her starring role in the film Crazy Rich Asians, has revealed that the hatred she faced drove her to the brink of suicide.
“There was a huge pile-up, I was essentially canceled because I came across as ungrateful,” she recalled on GMA.
Wu talked about her suicide attempt in her new book Making a Scene, in which she also reveals that she was sexually harassed by a producer of the hit ABC comedy
“And most painful of all, it was the Asian-American community that ostracized or shunned me the most.
“I was canceled because I wasn’t perfect. Because I wasn’t the Asian people wanted me to be.
“Ungrateful, silly, whatever. Do I think the proportion of hatred and rejection expressed against me was equal to the amount of mistakes I made? No. But whatever.
“I think about how I can be a better person and because of that I have tried to become a better person.”
Wu previously revealed in a post on her Twitter that an unnamed actress had sent her a direct message telling her she was a “pest to the Asian-American community” — and that pushed her to the brink.
She revealed: “I pulled myself over the balcony of my apartment building and I jumped.
“It’s like I’m talking about it now, my palms are getting itchy because I remember holding on to them.”
The actress told GMA she kept quiet about the harassment for years because she “didn’t want to tarnish the reputation of being the only show Asian Americans were supposed to represent themselves.”
Wu was found by a friend after her suicide attempt and was rushed to the emergency room.
Though traumatic, the star added that the harrowing incident was “eventually” a positive thing as it forced her to seek professional help.
“In the end it was something useful because it helped me,” she continued.
“I was in therapy every day for a while. It took me a while to get the right medication. It took me completely out of social media.”
The actress told GMA she learned she battled clinical depression while filming Crazy Rich Asians in 2018 — and admitted that months after wrapping the film, she “couldn’t even get off the couch.”
Wu first revealed to the world that she was forced to commit suicide earlier this year, when she returned to social media and made a statement about her nearly three-year hiatus from her accounts.
‘Hello everyone. I haven’t been on social media in almost 3 years. Tbh I’m a little scared but I’m doing my best to say I’m here and while I was away I wrote a book called Making a Scene,” she wrote in the July post.
“This next part is hard to talk about…but I was scared to come back on social media because I almost lost my life to it: 3 years ago, when I carelessly tweeted about the revamp of my TV show , it ignited outrage and internet shaming that got pretty serious.
Wu says she later learned she struggled with clinical depression while filming Crazy Rich Asians (seen) in 2018 and “couldn’t get off the couch” months after the film was wrapped
“I felt terrible about what I had said, and when a couple of DMs from a fellow Asian actress told me I was going to be a plague to the Asian-American community, I felt like I didn’t even deserve to say more. to live.
‘That I was a disgrace’ [Asian Americans], and they’d be better off without me. Looking back, it’s unreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that’s what happened. Fortunately, a friend found me and rushed me to the emergency room.’
Speaking to GMA, Wu also opened up about the sexual harassment she claims she faced at the hands of an Asian-American producer on Fresh Off the Boat, explaining that she kept silent about the abuse for so long because she didn’t. Savage. tarnish the reputation of that one show that was supposed to represent Asian Americans’.
“My first few years with Fresh Off the Boat, I was sexually harassed by a producer and I was harassed and threatened a lot by him,” she explained — revealing to GMA that the harassment included the producer asking for “revealing selfies” and an ‘incident of unwanted touch’.
“I was afraid of losing my job,” she continued. ‘But [I] also [kept quiet] because – and this is pre-MeToo movement – compared to other stories, the harassment I endured… it wasn’t “that bad.”
“My abuser on the show was an Asian-American man, a producer, and 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. I kept my mouth shut because the producer was such a supporter of Asian-American issues that I didn’t want to bring him down.”
Even now, though she says she feels “finally being heard and telling her story,” Wu admits that she’s “afraid” of any reaction she might get if she speaks up.
‘Am I afraid of backlash? Naturally. There’s not much to gain from survivors telling their stories,” she said.