Constance Wu has said she tried to kill herself after facing a backlash over comments she made about the renewal of her TV series Fresh Off the Boat.
The US actress made the revelation in a statement marking her return to twitter after almost three years.
She added she was “afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it”.
The Crazy Rich Asians star explained she experienced “internet shaming” following her “careless tweets”.
“Three 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 wrote on Thursday.
Wu posted a series of tweets in 2019 after a sixth series of the comedy was commissioned by US TV network ABC.
The 40-year-old, who had starred in the show since 2015, tweeted: “So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh.”
When a Twitter user congratulated her on the “great news”, which had also been publicly welcomed by some of her co-stars, Wu replied: “No it’s not.”
She later said the comments were “ill-timed” and had been made after “a rough day”, adding that the continuation of the show had meant she would be unable to pursue a passion project.
Returning to the platform this week, she added: “I felt awful about what I’d said and when a few DMs [direct messages] 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 any more.
“That I was a disgrace to AsAms, and they’d be better off without me. 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.”
Wu, who also starred in the 2019 film Hustlers, went on to say said she had written a book about her experience, entitled Making A Scene, and that she wanted to help others who had gone through similar things.
Credit: BBC.com
