Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Actor Constance Wu Reveals She Tried To Take Her Own Life After 'Severe' Twitter Backlash

Actor Constance Wu Reveals She Tried To Take Her Own Life After 'Severe' Twitter Backlash
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images

*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.

Actor Constance Wu has revealed that she attempted suicide following the Twitter uproar erupted over controversial comments she made about the ABC sitcom she appeared in, Fresh Off the Boat.


Wu shared her story in a post to Twitter which marks the first time she has appeared on the social media platform since the controversy three years ago.

The firestorm began when Wu tweeted that she was unhappy with the renewal of Fresh Off the Boat, because it meant she would have to decline another project.

But since the show was the first sitcom centered on an Asian-American family since Margaret Cho's All-American Girl went off the air in 1995, the comments set off an immediate backlash in the media and on platforms like Twitter.

Wu says even fellow Asian-Americans excoriated her for her comments and accused her of betraying her own ethnic community.

In the statement she posted, seen below, Wu described the harrowing events that culminated in a terrifying close-call with suicide.

In the statement, Wu wrote that she was terrified to be rejoining social media after everything that went down three years ago.

"I was afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it: 3 years ago, when I made careless tweets about the renewal of my TV show, it ignited outrage and internet shaming that got pretty severe."

She went on to describe how the backlash made her feel at the time.

"I felt awful about what I'd said, and when a few DMs from a fellow Asian actress told me I'd become a blight on the Asian American community, I started feeling like I didn't even deserve to live anymore."
"That I was a disgrace to AsAms, and they'd be better off without me."

Wu called the experience "surreal."

"Looking back it's surreal that a few DMs convinced me to end my own life, but that's what happened. Luckily, a friend found me and rushed me to the ER."

Nowadays, Wu says she is on the mend after having "put my career aside to focus on my mental health." She's written a memoir about the experience that she hopes will help others who struggle with mental health issues.

On Twitter, Wu's statement generated an outpouring of support.





Others used Wu's story as a sort of cautionary tale for the way social media is all to frequently used to abuse others.




Wu concluded her statement by saying that though she is "scared" to be returning to social media, she hopes it will help her heal and provide opportunities to "share my story so that it might help someone with theirs."

**

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

More from Trending

Rebel Wilson
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Rebel Wilson Reveals She Was Nearly Left 'Permanently Disfigured' By Accident On Film Set

After first becoming friends more than 14 years ago on the set of the first Pitch Perfect movie, Anna Camp and Rebel Wilson are back together in Bride Hard, now with Camp as the bride and Wilson as her best friend, and also a secret agent.

There is some chance of injury in almost any job, but with stunts in an action film, there are bound to be incidents, even if it's just a few stubbed toes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joe Biden; Alan Ritchson
Bruce Glikas/WireImage; Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Joe Biden And His Family Accidentally Crashed The 'Reacher' Set And Met Star Alan Ritchson

What do you do when you're the former President and you stumble upon a real-live Hollywood film set? Why, fan boy just like the rest of us, of course!

President Joe Biden and his family were heading to dinner on a recent night in Philadelphia when they happened upon the set of the Amazon Prime show Reacher. In fact, he drove right up to the set itself, seemingly without even realizing it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lee
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

GOP Senator Faces MAGA Backlash Over Plan To Sell Millions Of Acres Of Public Land

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee is facing harsh criticism—including from Team MAGA—over his proposal to sell off millions of acres of public land in the American West owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to supposedly create more affordable housing.

Lee claimed in his proposal that there is an "extensive process for interested parties like States and local governments to nominate land for disposal to meet housing and community needs," noting that it specifically exempts national parks, monuments, and federally designated wilderness areas from potential land sales.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped For Complaining That Americans Get 'Too Many' Federal Holidays Off Work

While it was ultimately former President Joe Biden who established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, President Donald Trump—who once campaigned on that promise—took to Truth Social on Juneteenth to whine about the number of "non-working holidays" Americans get, claiming that it costs businesses "billions of dollars."

Juneteenth is derived from June 19, 1865, when Union troops led by General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman sitting up in bed as a man sleeps next to her.
Florida State University Researchers Find Predictors for Infidelity in New Study
(Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The Biggest 'They're Definitely Cheating On Me!' Signs People Ignored

When our partner commits suspicious behavior, it's easy for us to jump to conclusions.

Most of the time, the conclusions we jump to are 100% wrong and are just our imaginations playing tricks with us.

Keep ReadingShow less