Constance Wu reveals that she attempted suicide after receiving backlash for a “careless” series of tweets she made in 2019.
The Hollywood actress, known for her roles in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and ‘Hustlers’ shared a tweet on July 15, after being inactive on Twitter for nearly three years.
Wu announced her upcoming book ‘Making a Scene’, and revealed that she was “afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it”.
Constance Wu breaks silence on 2019 tweet backlash
She explained that three years ago, she made “careless” tweets about the renewal of her TV show.
The star says “it ignited outrage and internet shaming that got pretty severe”.
Twitter backlash explained
Wu is referring to the tweets she made three years ago, when she was frustrated with ABC’s renewal of the sitcom ‘Fresh off the Boat’. Out of frustration, she tweeted “So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. F*ck” and “F*cking hell”.
The actress clarified that those tweets were posted during a “rough day”, and that the renewal of the sitcom meant she’d have to turn down a passion project. Unfortunately, she received a lot of online backlash from the impulsive comments.
In her recent comments, she explains that she became suicidal after receiving “a few DMs from a fellow Asian actress [who] told me I’d become a blight on the Asian American community”.
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Constance Wu on mental health
Wu received help and the experience led her to prioritize her mental health, as well as share her story in hopes of making a difference to others.
“AsAms don’t talk about mental health enough,” she wrote. “While we’re quick to celebrate representation wins, there’s a lot of avoidance around the more uncomfortable issues within our community. Even my tweets became a subject so touchy that most of my AsAm colleagues decided that was the time to avoid me or ice me out. I’ll admit it hurt a lot, but it also made me realize how important it is to reach out and care for people who are going through a hard time.”
She concluded that she felt “OK enough” to return to social media after taking a short break from Hollywood and “a lot of therapy”.
“And even though I’m scared, I’ve decided that I owe it to the me-of-3-years-ago to be brave and share my story so that it might help someone with theirs.”
Wu’s memoir ‘Making a Scene’ comes out on October 4, and she will appear in the musical Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile on October 7.
In a second tweet, she shared suicide hotline information, writing “If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text ‘STRENGTH’ to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to 988lifeline.org“.
