Constance Wu Revealed She Attempted Suicide After The Backlash Caused By Her Controversial “Fresh Off The Boat” Tweets Left Her Feeling Like A “Disgrace” To The Asian American Community
Constance Wu Revealed She Attempted Suicide After The Backlash Caused By Her Controversial “Fresh Off The Boat” Tweets Left Her Feeling Like A “Disgrace” To The Asian American Community
Blackpink’s Jennie sparks cultural appropriation accusations for sporting cornrows
“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
Constance Wu Revealed She Attempted Suicide After The Backlash Caused By Her Controversial “Fresh Off The Boat” Tweets Left Her Feeling Like A “Disgrace” To The Asian American Community — “It’s surreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that’s what happened.”
If you missed it, the Crazy Rich Asians actor shared a string of posts in 2019 expressing her unhappiness about the renewal of the hit ABC sitcom, in which she played leading character Jessica Huang.
The show, which had been renewed for its sixth and final season, centered on a Taiwanese family who had immigrated to the US. It was super popular among viewers, even scoring an impressive average rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, Constance was clearly frustrated by the news of its renewal for Season 6, sparking backlash as she tweeted: “So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. Fuck,” and, “Fucking hell.”
After Constance’s tweets attracted heaps of negative attention online, she defended her words by suggesting that fans were “making a lot of assumptions” about what she was saying.
Blackpink’s Jennie sparks cultural appropriation accusations for sporting cornrows — The video, which was released on Sunday, briefly shows the K-pop star sporting cornrows while playing the part of a backup dancer.
The 26-year-old artist can be seen in three short scenes throughout the video, which was released on Sunday. The HBO drama series stars singer The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), who plays a secret cult leader, and actor Lily-Rose Depp, who plays a wannabe pop singer.
In one particular scene of the trailer, Jennie can be spotted sporting cornrows while playing the part of a backup dancer.
Several eagle-eyed viewers caught a glimpse of her hairstyle and took to Twitter to call her out.
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‘We’ve been seen as less than men for so long’: John Cho reflects on breaking stereotypes in ‘Harold & Kumar’ — John Cho recently spoke in an interview with GQ about how his film franchise “Harold & Kumar” was ahead of its time.
John Cho may be long past his days of weed-fueled road trips in “Harold & Kumar,” but almost 20 years later, the actor reflected back on how the film franchise may have been ahead of its time.
Cho, now 50 years old, spoke on the years he reprised the titular role of Harold along with Kal Penn as Kumar in a recent interview with The Guardian: “Its posture towards race is to laugh at it. Instead of elevating it, it took the stereotypes and turned the sock inside out. Looking back, I think we were ahead of our time a little bit.”
The original 2004 film “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” followed by “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” (2008) and “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas” (2011), starred Cho and Penn at a time when AAPI actors hardly ever headlined major Hollywood productions — a pattern that’s only begun to shift in recent years. When they were on screen, it was to push a stereotypical narrative far removed from the reality of many Asian Americans.
“In America, everyone sees your race first, but that’s not the way you feel,” Cho said. “I never feel Asian, necessarily — it’s the world that makes me think about it.”
He continued: “I don’t want this to sound whiny, but we have been seen as less than men for so long. I fully appreciate that Asian men who are younger than me may be living in a different world, but certainly my generation was dismissed by larger society so much, and I just know from all my friends that they had a breaking point. And when it happened, you didn’t want to be around to see it, because the clenched fist in the pocket was often literal — it could come flying out. It was definitely a young man thing, but it was also informed by a culture that doesn’t value us very much. We grew up with that, and it took me some time to untangle it and to calm down and to not think that people are after me.”
🎬 Industry Insider
H.E.R. is now a Disney princess, will play Belle in Beauty and the Beast TV special (Entertainment Weekly)
Atsuko Okatsuka Sets First Comedy Special at HBO (Variety)
‘Drive My Car’ Star Hidetoshi Nishijima Joins Rashida Jones In Apple TV+ Series ‘Sunny’ (Deadline)
💼 Industry Job Board
Social Media Manager, Nickelodeon | Nickelodeon
Assistant Manager, Entertainment Events | NBCUniversal
Manager, Subscription Strategy & Operations | Sony Music
Brand Director | Paramount
👀 Watch List
It’s summer! ☀️ Go enjoy it (and stay hydrated),
Lea @ Crushing the Myth