Constance Wu speaks out about personal struggles, allegations of sexual harassment | Nightline

I felt judged for so long oh she had this big movie now she thinks she's this big star who like outgrew her TV show it's easy to see that but we are all so much more than our tweets Constance Woos Fall From Grace was as epic as her rise to fame a Hollywood breakout pushing barriers on ABC's hit TV show fresh off the boat mom no I don't want Chinese lunch I want white people food the kids at school will get used to it making even more history as a bona fide movie star in Crazy Rich Asians hailed as a Triumph of representation with its all Asian cast you look spectacular it's the double Spanx I can't breathe instantly and unwittingly she became the champion for the Asian American community what did it feel like to suddenly become a Hollywood star it felt like a privilege to be able to bring up these matters of representation for Asian Americans but it felt a little scary because I felt like there's people who are so better equipped than I was to talk about it people that have studied it in college so you know there's a little bit of guilt about that but you felt like an imposter well I was it wasn't it wasn't imposter syndrome where it's like you actually are no I was I did not know you want to dance no thank you but in 2019 just months before the release of her Blockbuster Hustlers with Jennifer Lopez Wu's popularity cratered after tweeting that she was quote so upset right now that I'm literally crying because fresh off the boat had been renewed for a sixth season it came out sounding pretty bad um my tweets were really graceless and the most painful thing of all was it was really the Asian American community that either ostracized or avoided me the most around that topic what happened that made you react and then push sin our final episode of the previous season had been written to function as a series finale so cancellation was a foregone conclusion and so I've gotten these other jobs that I was really excited about Wu deleted the tweets and posted an apology the next day explaining that she was temporarily upset still the backlash remained and Wu retreated into silence for three years as people continued to condemn her including she says an Asian actress she thought was her Ally she sent me some DMS um shaming me to the point of me thinking that I needed to end my own life what was it that cut so deep for you she basically said I had become a blight on the Asian American community and nothing I could ever do would make up for the damage I'd done to the community that I was like a disgrace and it made me feel like Asian Americans feel like it would be better if I just didn't exist Wu says she was in so much pain she considered the unthinkable and wound up in a psychiatric ER I was lucky enough that a friend who had access to my apartment and had come to check up on me I mean I pulled myself over the balcony of my apartment building you know and I was going to jump it's like talking about it now like makes my palms itch because I remember like holding on to it um but uh ultimately ended up being something helpful because it made me get help um what did that help look like it was professional help um so like I was in therapy every day for a while it looked like me completely unplugging from social media and sort of reevaluating [Music] um What mattered to me in life and why it mattered to me woo now 40 says she found her voice in her new Memoir making a scene after suffering in silence she's now revealing to those who may have judged her the fullness of the traumas she says she's faced throughout her life including troubling allegations against a producer of the show that made her a star my first couple years on the fresh off the boat I was um I mean I was sexually harassed by a producer and I was um you know intimidated and threatened a lot by him and it was my first ever Network TV job and I was constantly terrified of being fired and at the same time fresh off the boat was considered this bright Pinnacle of Asian American representation and My Views are on the show was an Asian-American man and it really was a conflict for me I didn't want to stain the rep the stain the reputation of the one show Asian Americans had to represent themselves what made that relationship inappropriate small things that I shouldn't have to think about to like send me sexy selfies at night there was a time where he inappropriately touched my leg and grazed my crotch over my jeans um there was times where he you know would ask to see pictures of my female friends and say if he'd beat them or not actually he often said nobody wanted you I had to fight for you to get this job I'm protecting you you have to listen to me we reached out to ABC entertainment about Wu's allegations of sexual harassment and they told us they had no comment if your tears could speak what would they say um I think the tears are often tears of relief because it feels like you know I'm finally getting to be heard and tell my story and let people know that I understand why they might have judged me but to hope that they understand the context she says the context is complicated stemming back to her childhood growing up in Virginia with immigrant parents from Taiwan you talked about one of the most painful episodes in your childhood was being accused plagiarizing where you were like and I couldn't call my parents as backup because I thought my teacher would think they were dumb yeah because of their accent yeah because it's so easy to equate accented English with stupidity in a way you feel like you have to protect your parents my teacher would judge and shame them when Hollywood was trying to be more inclusive with the success of crazy Rich Asians Wu says she was dealing with a cultural taboo clinical depression in the middle of filming crazy Rich Asians um it persisted for four or five months I couldn't even get off the couch you know when I got home from filming and that's when I was like okay I'm gonna give medication a try and it's um it's really helped a lot and while filming the mega hit memories of a rape she says she experienced a decade before by a different man resurfaced it's not even that I repressed it it's that I didn't even realize it was rape but rape is having sex with somebody who does not consent and I said the words I am not ready for sex and he kissed me on the forehead treated me very tenderly and decided to do it anyway and it took me a long time to realize and I think my body reminded me of it because I was in a place where I was ready now Lou says she's trying to reclaim her Spotlight returning to the big screen in Lyle Lyle Crocodile and gently logging back onto social media after a three-year Hiatus it might seem like I rejoined social media to promote my book but the people that I want to reach the people who are going through what I went through three years ago who are in despair over a DM or a tweet they're scrolling their feeds and feeling lonelier and lonelier so I want to reach that person but her greatest project yet motherhood welcoming her first child a daughter while recently reconciling her own relationship with her mother after a five-year estrangement when I first sort of became visible in Hollywood she really got on me and I felt like she didn't understand me and that's why we became estranged but I now understand was all just out of love and um yeah I'm I'm trying to apply that to being a mom myself opening one chapter closing another what do you think about cancel culture canceling means oh I don't think somebody can change I think they need to be banished forever I was canceled for being less than the perfect for not being the Asian people wanted me to be but I'm thinking about how I could be a better person and it's made me try to be a better person our thanks to Juju if you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or other mental health crises free confidential help is available 24 hours a day seven days a week call or text the national Lifeline at 988 that number again 988 You Are Not Alone hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching

Channel: ABC News

Views: 1,917,079

Keywords: abc, actress, allegations, asians, boat, constance, crazy, filming, fresh, harassment, health, mental, news, nightline, off, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-91022567, personal, producer, rich, sexual, struggles, the, wu

Id: Y5Z1oVnUZcY

Length: 9min 48sec (588 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 05 2022