Ali Wong's divorce news causes another case of #WrongAsian
‘See-moo Lee-you’: Simu Liu shares what presenters see when announcing his name
“Almost half of all Asian roles serve as a punchline, study finds.”
You’re not the only ones disappointed by that headline. For us, “crushing the myth” means dismantling stereotypes and improving Asian representation across all industries, including Media & Entertainment. Because to “see” our community is to see us on screen.
So welcome to Entertainment Exclusive, Crushing the Myth’s weekly newsletter that breaks down the latest Asian Entertainment news & newsmakers.
Get ready for new shows to binge, videos to keep you on the edge of your seat, and Asian celebs to stan. If that’s not enough, there are also job listings for the entertainment industry & open casting calls just a scroll down.
🏆 The Headlines
Ali Wong's divorce news causes another case of #wrongasian — Ali Wong has given the public loads of very personal information about her husband, Justin Hakuta, in the eight years the couple has been married.
In her most recent Netflix stand-up special, Don Wong, the Asian American actor bragged about her Asian American husband's accolades: He went to Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard Business School, and he was a Fulbright scholar.
Still, despite the abundance of very Google-able information out there about him and red carpet appearances by the two, on the day Wong confirmed she and her husband plan to split, some news outlets misidentified Hakuta, incorrectly using photos of Asian American actor Randall Park instead.
Wong and Park co-starred in exactly one film together: the Netflix hit Always Be My Maybe.
The blunder has revived the hashtag #wrongasian on social media and spurred new rounds of ridicule of the outlets, including Parade magazine, which has since deleted a tweet featuring Wong and Park.
"Come on! Can we not ruin the news of Ali Wong's divorce with Wrong Asian racism?" tweeted Phil Yu, co-author of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America From the Nineties to Now.
‘See-moo Lee-you’: Simu Liu shares what presenters see when announcing his name — Some in Hollywood are apparently making very sure that actor Simu Liu’s name isn’t mispronounced.
The Chinese Canadian star of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” tweeted a photo of the 94th Academy Awards’ teleprompter that used the phonetic spelling of his name.
The teleprompter, which was meant for Oscars co-host Regina Hall, included the proper names of celebrities such as Bradley Cooper, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry and Javier Bardem. But when it came to the Marvel star’s name, the teleprompter displayed “See-moo Lee-you.”
When a Twitter user wondered how the hosts would have pronounced Liu’s name if it were written properly, the actor replied with “Adele Nazeem,” comically referencing John Travolta’s mispronunciation of Idina Menzel’s name while introducing her before her performance of “Let It Go” at the 2014 Oscars.
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Entertainment review YouTuber criticizes ‘Turning Red’ for not recognizing 9/11’s cultural impact — A YouTuber became the subject of online jokes and memes due to his review of Pixar’s “Turning Red,” in which he criticizes the animated film for not recognizing the cultural impact of the 9/11 attacks.
YouTuber TheMysteriousMrEnter, also known as Mr. Enter, became the subject of online jokes and memes for his April 14 video review of Pixar's “Turning Red,” in which he criticizes the animated film for not recognizing the cultural impact of the 9/11 attacks.
Twitter user @CocoaFox023 shared a clip of the review to Twitter the day after the YouTube video was posted. The clip has garnered over 8.4 million views on the microblogging platform.
“This film takes place less than a year after the September 11 terrorist attacks. I bring this up because it radically altered the culture of the time in ways that make this movie feel exceptionally ignorant of the time,” Mr. Enter said in his video review.
His remarks prompted Twitter users to generate a wave of memes.
🎬 Industry Insider
‘Casper’ Live-Action TV Series In Works At Peacock From ‘The Ghost Bride’s Kai Yu Wu (Deadline)
‘The Son In Law’: Meera Simhan Joins Chris Sullivan & Reema Sampat In ABC Comedy Pilot (Deadline)
‘Ghost Of Tsushima’: Chad Stahelski Feature Take Of Sony PlayStation Game Sets Writer With Takashi Doscher (Deadline)
📢 Casting Calls
Indigo Casting seeking the following LEAD ROLES for a new HBO Max TV Series for CAMBODIAN characters:
💼 Industry Job Board
Marketing Manager, Paid Social, Prime Video Originals Marketing | Amazon
Media Planning Coordinator | Paramount
Production Assistant, News Now | NBCUniversal
Vice President, Documentary Films | The Walt Disney Company
👀 Watch List — Hear from your favorite directors
Catch you on the flip side…aka next week’s Entertainment Exclusive.
👋, Lea @ Crushing the Myth